THERE  can  be  no 
hope  of  progress  or 
freedom  for  the 
people  without  the  un- 
restricted and  complete 
enjoyment  of  the  right 
of  free  speech,  free  press 
and   peaceful  assembly. 


Gift  of 
IRA  B.  CROSS 


KJ 


GIFT  OF 
r*    Ti.  Gross 


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PSYCHIC    CONTROL. 


Psychic      Control 
Through    Self-  Knowledge 


BY 

WALTER  WINSTON  KENILWORTH 


R.  F.  Fenno  &  Company 

18  East  17th  Street,  New  York 


""Wii^r 

EDUC 

m 


COPYRIGHT  1910 

BY 

R.  F.  FENNO  &  COMPANY 


Psychic  Control 


PSYCHIC    CONTROL. 


691 


FOKEWOKD. 

This  is  the  era  of  a  new  revelation.  New  religions, 
new  systems  of  thought,  new  systems  of  philosophy 
are  turning  the  tide  of  spiritual  interest  from  the 
orthodoxy  of  past  ages.  The  profound  discoveries 
of  modern  science  are  forming  into  a  basis  for  the 
authority  of  spiritual  truth. 

Faith  is  giving  way  to  knowledge.  Faith  often 
sinks  into  superstition.  From  being  the  forerunner 
of  knowledge  it  is  often  debased  into  dangerous 
and  soul-suicidal  man-made  dogmas.  Faith  should 
herald  the  dawn  of  Truth.  When  it  fails  to  serve 
this  purpose,  it  perishes. 

The  scriptures  of  the  world  ask  us  to  "see,  hear, 
perceive  and  know  the  Truth" ;  they  say :  "ask,  and 
ye  shall  receive ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find ;  knock,  and 
it  shall  be  opened  unto  you."  It  is  the  direct  per- 
ception of  Truth  that  the  soul  demands.  Belief  has 
not  the  motive  power  for  conduct  that  knowledge 


The  cry  of  orthodoxy  has  been,  "believe,  and  ye 
shall  be  saved."  The  new  theology  says,  "by  knowl- 
edge man  is  saved,  alone  by  knowledge."  The  surest 
method  of  realizing  Truth  is  to  understand  ourselves. 
If  a  man  possesses  a  soul,  he  must  become  conscious 
of  it.  Consciousness  is  most  concerned  with  the  body. 
To  center  consciousness  upon  the  soul  is  the  aim  of 


religion.  By  "soul''  is  meant  the  changeless  and 
permanent  reality  of  which  the  changing  and  imper- 
manent personality  is  the  fleeting  shadow. 

In  this  volume  the  author  has  endeavored  to  pre- 
sent a  clear  and  practical  conception  of  the  soul.  It 
is  understood  that  by  "soul"  he  means  neither  mind 
nor  body,  but  the  living  essence  of  which  these  are 
the  mental  and  material  manifestations.  The  unity 
of  life  presupposes  the  omnipresence  of  that  unity 
and  its  everlastingness.  That  unity  is  the  One 
Spiritual  Self  residing  in  all.  The  goal  of  spiritual 
effort  is  the  realization  of  the  Spirit  within.  Psychic 
or  spiritual  control  is  the  direct  way  of  reaching  the 
goal.  The  great  principle  which  has  been  emphasized 
is:  that  morality  is  the  medium  through  which  the 
deepest  psychic  and  spiritual  consciousness  is  ob- 
tained. Morality,  together  with  a  consciousness  of 
what,  in  essence,  is  the  Self  of  all  beings,  is  the 
thread  connecting  the  various  subjects. 

The  Authoe. 


STEPS    TO    SELF -KNOWLEDGE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

STEPS  TO  SELF-KNOWLEDGE. 

In  presenting  a  system  of  thought  and  a  method 
for  the  development  of  spiritual  faculties  and  con- 
sciousness the  mandate  of  the  Delphic  Oracle :  "Know 
Thyself"  is  of  first  consideration.  A  conception  of 
what  is  meant  by  Self  is  of  primary  importance.  The 
abiding  principle,  persistence  and  reality  of  Self, 
must  be  comprehended.  What  is  that  Self  ?  Is  it  the 
body  ?  Is  it  the  mind  ?  Is  it  what  is  understood  as 
soul  ?    Is  it  a  synthesis  of  these  ? 

The  mind  peers  into  the  world  of  phenomena  weav- 
ing the  warp  and  woof  of  sense  experience.  Busied 
with  the  outward  order  of  things,  it  fails  to  realize 
that  it  is  the  manifesting  principle  of  phenomena,  for 
it  is  through  the  mind  alone  that  they  exist.  Thus 
the  mind  accustoms  itself  to  accord  reality  to  its  ex- 
periences. Consciousness  deals  with  symbols,  whereas 
it  should  seek  the  meaning  of  the  external  in  the  study 
and  realization  of  the  internal.  The  mind  is  gener- 
ally absorbed  in  external  phenomena,  ever  in  quest 
of  values  associated  with  this  external  knowledge.  It 
identifies  itself  with  phantasmagoria,  and  in  this 
identification  submerges  its  own  identity. 

Philosophical  reasoning  is  the  process  through 
which  the  mind  reacts  upon  itself.     It  leads  to  self- 


10  Steps  to  Self-Knowledge. 

introspection,  to  mysticism  and  to  the  comprehension 
of  consciousness.  Philosophy  reaches  to  the  primi- 
tiveness  of  thought  in  the  attempt  to  answer  the 
query,  what  is  Self?  History  is  more  a  veil  than  a 
light.  It  only  faintly  suggests  the  tremendous  evolu- 
tion of  ideas.  It  reviews  several  thousand  centuries, 
but  the  Aryan  race,  mother  of  races,  reached  high 
flights  of  speculative  thought  before  the  building  of 
the  Pyramids,  and  long  before  the  reign  of  those 
Egyptian  and  Assyrian  kings  whose  painted  mummy 
cases  and  sarcophagi  intimate  high  culture  and  civili- 
zation ere  the  first  ray  of  historic  truth  illumined  the 
darkness  of  the  past.  Dissatisfied  with  the  convic- 
tions of  logic  in  the  solution  of  the  Eternal  Question, 
the  Aryan  philosophers  developed  that  psychological 
system  of  introspective  thought  which  centers  con- 
sciousness on  the  innermost  nature  of  man,  wresting 
from  the  Unknown  the  secret  of  Self,  and  bringing 
spiritual  knowledge  within  range  of  conscious  experi- 
ence. Conscious  knowledge  is  true  knowledge.  Mys- 
ticism is  deeper  than  philosophy.  Theories  are  in- 
definite. Practical  experience  is  the  criterion  of 
truth.  Self-knowledge  must  be  established  in  con- 
sciousness. It  is  vain  to  thread  the  labyrinth  of  argu- 
ment. Realization  is  the  aim  and  end.  The  Vedas 
teach:  "That  Self  must  be  seen,  heard,  perceived 
and  known."  The  highest  truth  must  become  a  living 
fact  in  conscious  perception. 

Need  for  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  great  prob- 
lem of  life  is  vital.  The  problem  is  before  each  soul. 
Each  has  it  to  solve.     That  solution  involves  the  en- 


Steps  to  Self -Knowledge.  11 

tirety  of  Self-knowledge,  the  development  and  per- 
fection of  spiritual  consciousness. 

There  is  an  exhaustless  reservoir  back  of  mani- 
fested nature  from  which  new  forms  and  new  creative 
and  vital  forces  proceed ;  a  reservoir  of  latent  energy 
in  which  all  the  future  manifestation  of  the  cosmos 
exists.  Manifested  nature  is  limited.  Its  vastness 
and  seeming  illimitableness  is  conditioned,  compared 
with  the  infinite  potentiality  of  the  unmanifested. 
The  unmanifested  is  infinite  in  possibilities  of  ex- 
pression; infinite  in  effort  to  reach  higher  culmina- 
tions of  natural  perfection. 

Man  is  a  universe  in  himself.  In  the  abyss  of  the 
racial  Past  slumbers  the  entire  cosmic  past,  vibrant 
with  the  possibilities  of  the  cosmic  future.  The  heart 
of  Man  throbs  in  perfect  unison  with  the  pulsations 
of  nature  in  the  great  evolutionary  urge.  Within  his 
racial  subconsciousness  is  the  vast  stretch  of  instinct 
and  feeling  which  conditioned  expression  from  primi- 
tive forms  to  highly  evolved  existence.  He  is  part 
and  parcel  of  universal  development.  His  nature  is 
composed  of  the  same  soul,  mental,  physical  and  life 
forces  animating  all  beneath  or  above  the  rational, 
all  above  or  below  the  human.  The  past  of  the  uni- 
verse is  the  past  of  every  individual  soul.  The  sum 
is  no  greater  than  any  of  its  constituent  units.  Re- 
move a  unifying  factor  and  the  sum  is  incomplete. 

We  are  the  victims  of  Appearance.  We  are  de- 
ceived by  the  magnitude  of  the  sun.  The  material 
superiority  of  the  sun  over  lesser  bodies  has  source  in 
the  misconceptions  of  sense  experience.    We  conceive 


12  Steps  to  Self-Knowledge. 

distance  in  the  form  of  a  break,  when  there  is  no 
break  in  the  universe.  The  entire  solar  system  is 
interrelated  and  bound  to  the  earth  in  an  infinite 
ocean  of  ether.  The  human  body  and  the  sun  are  only 
wave-forms  of  that  ether,  only  points  of  condensation. 
Both  are  of  the  same  material  substance  which  com- 
poses all  forms.  The  synthesized  force  which  controls 
the  movements  of  the  planetary  course  is  the  same 
that  controls  the  human  body.  The  principle  of  life 
and  consciousness  manifest  in  Being  is  the  same,  the 
difference  of  expression  one  of  degree.  The  principle 
which  threads  the  evolutionary  course  throughout 
time  and  space  is  equally  inscrutible,  equally  mar- 
velous— equally  spiritual,  whether  the  threading  be 
of  the  inorganic,  of  primitive  and  instinctive,  or  of 
hyper-physical  and  spiritual  life.  In  the  fact  that  all 
substance,  all  force  and  all  life  is  one,  Man  should  see 
and  grow  conscious  of  his  greatness  in  the  universe. 
Once  this  fact  is  recognized  as  a  living  truth  the 
oneness  and  sacredness  of  life  and  the  Brotherhood  of 
Man  will  be  established.  The  Spirit  of  the  Race 
will  manifest  in  coherent  collectiveness  of  effort, 
greater  expression  of  social  virtue  and  greater  control 
over  social  inharmonies.  Man  is  as  necessary  a  fac- 
tor in  the  development  of  universal  order  as  is  the 
mightiest  of  the  central  suns. 

The  all-encompassing  motive  in  cosmic  evolution  is 
the  complete  integration  of  consciousness.  Succeed- 
ing the  first  development  of  conscious  life  on  any 
plane,  the  next  and  continuously  next  step  of  nature 
is  to  perfect  it,  to  specialize  and  consolidate  it  and 


Steps  to  Self-Knowledge.  13 

ever  broaden  its  field  of  expression.  This  is  what  the 
earth  has  been  doing  for  millions  of  years,  and  the 
same  process  is  going  on  in  universal  evolution.  The 
purpose  of  this  motion  and  growth  of  suns  from  vast 
spheres  of  fire  into  habitable  planets  is  to  formulate 
conditions  to  render  possible  the  manifestation  of 
consciousness.  Consciousness  being  the  goal  of  all 
physical  motion,  its  most  perfect,  active  and  developed 
expression  is  the  climax  of  cosmic  perfection. 

Consciousness  is  infinite.  It  does  not  grow  or 
evolve,  nor  is  it  brought  about  by  any  physical  rela- 
tion. It  is  pre-existent.  It  could  not  develop  from 
nature  unless  it  existed  anterior  to  nature.  Life  and 
consciousness  cannot  proceed  from  nature  unless  they 
potentially  exist  before  nature  manifests  them.  Mani- 
festation is  the  word.  Western  thought  holds  that 
evolutionary  factors  developed  consciousness,  that 
there  was  a  time  when  consciousness  did  not  exist. 
Evolution  cannot  be  denied.  The  theory  was  advanced 
by  the  sage  Kapila  thousands  of  years  before  the 
Christian  era.  Nothing  is  to  be  said  against  the  theory 
of  evolution,  but  a  central  truth,  as  yet  not  well 
defined  in  western  philosophy,  is  involution,  which 
evolution  necessarily  presupposes.  All  these  forms 
and  forces,  this  life  and  consciousness,  this  universe 
of  phenomena,  did  not  come  from  the  non-existent. 
There  is  a  theory  which  relegates  all  to  the  iniatory 
movement  of  the  cosmos,  but  this  infers  that  the  move- 
ment must  have  been  eternally  possible.  Thus  it  is 
with  consciousness.  Manifested  or  unmanifested, 
consciousness  always  is.     Existence  is  man's  birth- 


14  Steps  to  Self -Knowledge. 

right.  It  is  not  a  quality  of  the  soul,  but  its  essence. 
All  that  nature  does  is  to  condition  forms  and  forces 
for  the  manifestation  of  consciousness.  From  incipi- 
ent to  higher  forms,  consciousness  is  specialized. 
Future  humanity  is  latent  in  the  animal  soul.  The 
potential  god  resides  in  the  human  soul,  and  within 
the  higher  consciousness  of  the  god  is  universal  con- 
sciousness of  infinite  existence  and  realization  of  Self. 
This  does  away  with  the  idea  of  creation  or  develop- 
ment from  the  non-existent,  taking  that  word  in  its 
surface  meaning. 

Infinite  is  consciousness,  because  pre-existent  to 
any  manifestation  introduced  by  nature  for  the  evolu- 
tion of  life.  Infinite,  because  it  is  eternally  existent. 
It  witnessed  the  dawn  of  this  universe  of  time,  space 
and  causation.  It  will  witness  the  cosmic  disintegra- 
tion. Being  eternally  anterior  to  these  conditions,  it 
is  eternally  free  from  their  limiting  tendencies  and 
bondage.  That  is  the  great  truth,  the  saving  idea  and 
logical  outgrowth.  It  is  the  saving  idea,  because  it 
reveals  to  man  the  truth  that  consciousness  is  before 
and  throughout  all  time : 

"Never  the  spirit  was  born,  the  spirit  will  cease  to  be 
never, 
Never  was  time  it  was  not,  end  and  beginning  are 
dreams ; 
Birthless  and  deathless  and  changeless  remaineth  the 
spirit  forever, 
Death  has  not  touched  it  at  all,  dead  though  the 
house  of  it  seems." 


Steps  to  Self -Knowledge.  15 

The  consciousness  of  man  is  an  expression  of  the 
infinite,  supercosmical,  ever-free,  ever-absolute  and 
unconditioned  consciousness.  The  term  expression 
must  be  philosophically  understood.  It  means  that 
finite  expression  is  an  emptiness,  a  shadowy  unreality, 
an  illusion.  The  infinite  cannot  be  partialized,  there- 
fore we  are  infinite;  therefore  free  from  bondage; 
therefore  omniscient  and  omniexistent.  Dare  to  take 
that  position.  Then  neither  fear  nor  weakness  nor 
ignorance  have  dominion. 

These  truths  reveal  the  essential  nature  of  man, 
They  assert  his  power,  his  inherent  divinity,  omnis- 
cience and  bliss.  What  then  causes  all  this  suffering, 
this  self-belittleing  which,  to  all  appearance  we  are 
forced  to  undergo  ?  Why  are  we  burdened  with  this 
terrible  nightmare  of  limited  consciousness  if  we  are 
the  absolute  and  all-inclusive  existence  ?  Why  this 
manifestation,  far  from  divine,  far  from  infinite,  far 
from  perfect.  For  ages  upon  ages  man  has  been 
taught  to  consider  himself  a  worm  in  the  dust,  and 
has  done  so.  An  extra-personal  god  has  been  thrust 
upon  him  before  whom  he  must  cringe.  For  ages 
upon  ages  men  have  been  like  whipped  dogs,  prostrate 
at  the  feet  of  tyrannous  divinity.  Some  have  had 
not  only  one  autocratic  god  to  fear,  but  an  entire  poly- 
theistic system.  It  was  hard  for  man  to  shoulder 
spiritual  responsibility  conducive  to  moral  and  in- 
tellectual independence.  There  is  no  spiritual  pro- 
gress without  independence.  There  is  no  growth  with- 
out freedom,  and  this  is  especially  true  in  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  soul.    Fear  must  be  eradicated  before  the 


1 6  Steps  to  Self -Knowledge. 

soul  can  truly  advance.  Political  slavery  is  terrible, 
but  it  is  not  to  be  compared  with  religious  slavery. 
Social  caste  is  dreadful,  but  far  more  dreadful  is 
religious  caste.  Absolute  tyranny  is  dangerous,  but 
more  dangerous  the  unscrupulous  and  grasping  spirit 
of  priestcraft.  Ancient  governmental  policies  were 
superimposed  upon  the  ignorance  of  the  masses.  It 
is  the  same  to-day.  Ignorance  makes  men  grovel  be- 
fore thrones  of  state  and  thrones  of  dogma.  The  ab- 
solute despotisms  of  the  Orient  furnish  example. 
With  knowledge  comes  power,  self-confidence,  asser- 
tion and  realization  of  strength,  and  conquest  over 
tyrannous  conditions. 

Religious  reformation  is  the  purging  process  which 
removes  superstition  and  ignorance.  It  does  away 
with  soul-binding  powers  working  inestimable  havoc 
in  the  social  body.  The  Buddhist  reformation  and 
that  of  Protestantism  did  not  harm  Brahmanic  and 
Christian  truths.  It  only  converted  the  minds  of  men 
to  moral  and  intellectual  self-confidence.  Ignorance 
and  fear  blind  the  vision,  but  men  are  to  blame.  They 
shut  their  eyes  and  cry  out :  "There  is  no  light ; 
there  is  no  light."  They  attribute  weakness  and  ig- 
norance to  the  soul,  when  it  is  the  essence  of  light, 
truth,  knowledge  and  power.  Remove  the  veil  which 
blinds  the  spiritual  vision.  Know  that  you  are  not 
bound,  and  you  are  not;  believe  yourself  in  bondage 
and  you  are  in  bondage. 

The  evolutionary  course  is  infinite  in  circuitous 
windings ;  the  goal  far  in  the  cosmic  distance.  Evo- 
lution is  the  result  of  desire,  and  desire  is  but  a  dim 


Steps  to  Self-Knowledge.  17 

perception  of  the  desired  perfection,  a  vague,  though 
real  knowledge  of  the  power  to  realize  desire.  The 
culmination  is  realized  in  the  divine  event  when  de- 
sire attains  its  highest  ideal,  Self-realization.  Desire 
to  be  conditions  the  future.  It  strikes  a  deeper  and 
truer  chord  in  the  harmonies  of  progress.  High 
ideals  render  this  exalted  service  to  desire. 

All  systems,  having  Self  as  their  ideal,  that  at- 
tempt to  realize  Self-knowledge  through  enlarging  the 
area  of  conscious  perception  apply  the  primary  rule 
of  establishing  bodily  health.  Mind,  however,  is  of 
more  importance,  because  the  mind  exercises  greater 
influence  and  power  of  control.  The  essential  require- 
ment, therefore,  is  the  perfect  appreciation  of  mental 
values  in  their  relation  to  spiritual  development.  All 
ideas  interfering  with  perfect  self-mastery  must  be 
discarded.  Better  a  belief  in  annihilation  than  the 
bondage  of  superstition.  Evolution  depends  on  the 
summary  of  thought,  and  if  this  consists  of  vacillat- 
ing, indefinite  and  uncertain  units,  development  is  re-\ 
tarded.  "All  that  we  are  is  the  result  of  what  we 
have  thought.  It  is  founded  on  our  thoughts.  It  is 
made  up  of  our  thoughts,"  says  the  Buddha.  ^ 

The  soul  possesses  as  great  a  future  as  there  is  op- 
portunity to  realize  evolutionary  desire,  and  evolution 
is  relatively  indefinite.  Until  the  soul  realizes  Self 
as  infinite  consciousness  there  is  further  progress. 
The  thought  of  infinite  development  is  a  spur  to  the 
Ever  Onward.  We  are  gods  in  embyro.  We  are  di- 
vinity. Then  why  the  apparently  endless  and  futile 
struggle  ?    In  the  absolute  this  struggle  is  the  lie  the 


IS  Steps  to  Self-Knowledge. 

soul  constantly  voices.  It  is  abomination  to  speak  of 
the  soul  as  progressing,  the  soul  beyond  everything, 
with  divinity  as  birthright.  As  long  as  we  are  in- 
volved in  the  dream  of  progress,  however,  evolution 
continues  and  there  is  reality  in  the  phenomenal. 
This  idea  of  becoming  rivets  bond  after  bond  in  the 
chain  of  ignorance.    In  the  highest  sense  we  are. 

Self  is  blasphemed  in  identification  with  finite  con- 
ditions. Mental  cobwebs  should  be  brushed  aside. 
The  soul  should  assert  day  and  night  that  it  is  free, 
bound  by  nothing  and  slave  to  no  condition.  The 
Soul  is  omnipotent  when  it  has  realized  that  its  inner- 
most essence  is  unconditioned.  The  Soul  is  the  source 
of  understanding  and  spiritual  unfoldment,  and  is 
ever  free.  A  Teacher  explains  this  limitation  of  soul, 
and  points  the  way  out  in  a  striking  illustration :  A 
lion  stunned  by  the  falling  of  a  rock  was  found  by 
hunters.  Knowing  that  the  lion  could  not  regain 
consciousness  for  some  time  they  built  a  bullrush  cage 
around  him  to  see  if  he  would  imagine  himself 
captive.  They  then  repaired  to  a  safe  distance.  On 
awakening,  the  lion  found  himself  surrounded  by  bars. 
He  began  to  roar,  thinking  himself  captive.  The  sug- 
gestion of  the  hunters  had  taken  root.  In  his  restless 
pacings  the  lion  stumbled  against  the  bars.  They 
gave  way  instantly.  With  a  bound,  the  lion  gained 
freedom.  The  lion  of  the  soul  is  caged  in  ignorance, 
constantly  asserting  misery,  weakness  and  slavery  to 
this  and  that  condition.  The  riddance  of  this  ig- 
norance enables  it  to  express  divinity.  If  sin  exist 
it  is  only  in  the  form  of  weakness. 


Steps  to  Self-Knowledge.  19 

Very  true,  this  world  is  a  stage  and  we  are  actors. 
We  are  acting  our  parts  well  or  ill,  but  we  are  only 
acting.  Just  as  a  man  representing  an  historic  char- 
acter is  not  that  character,  so  man  portrays  various 
parts  and  characters  when  Self  is  the  only  character. 

What  gives  meaning  to  nature  and  lends  it  color 
and  form  is  the  light  of  the  soul.  The  only  power, 
the  only  beauty,  only  adorableness  and  reality  are  of 
the  soul.  Being  possessions  of  the  soul,  the  soul  shin- 
ing everything  else  shines.  These  possessions  are  not 
to  be  found  in  nature.  Confusion  lies  in  the  under- 
standing as  to  what  is  soul,  mind  and  matter.  Om- 
nipotence, the  essence  of  Self,  means  that  aside  from 
it  nothing  exists.  Aside  from  It  there  is  no  power. 
Omnipresence,  the  essence  of  the  Self,  means  that  It 
is  the  only  presence  in  the  universe. 

Highest  moral  relations  are  involved  in  the  indi- 
vidualization of  these  truths.  Their  translation  into 
values  of  character  present  the  only  logical  reason  for 
utilitarianism.  Apart  from  the  perception  of  the  unity 
and  sacredness  of  life  there  is  little  motive  for  the 
practice  of  ethical  principles.  Why  should  individual 
tastes,  appetites  and  instincts  be  inhibited  and  control 
exercised  over  desire  unless  there  is  a  spiritual 
motive  ?  Consistent  reason  for  morality  develops 
when  knowledge  emerges  from  narrow  into  extensive 
conclusions  regarding  social  relationship.  When  the 
attitude  of  men  toward  their  fellows  is  governed  by 
the  highest  understanding  of  Self,  then  will  they  love 
their  neighbor  as  themselves.  The  Christ  placed  the  / 
wholeness  of  spiritual  effort  and  realization  in  love. 


20  Steps  to  Self-Knowledge! 

Man's  love  for  his  neighbor  comes  with  the  recog- 
nition of  the  spiritual  unity  and  identity  permeating 
all  life.  Men  love  as  they  project  their  ideal.  Ideals 
live  in  the  realm  of  the  soul.  Manifestations  of 
ideals  are  loved  because  the  mind  cannot  worship 
ideals  in  themselves.  The  imagination  depends  on 
symbols.  Until  we  learn  to  worship  ideals  as  ideals 
we  have  to  worship  the  outer  manifestation.  The 
human  race  has  been  doing  this  from  immemorial 
time.  Externalizing  the  ideal  of  Self  it  has  created 
an  extra-cosmic  divinity  and  credited  it  with  the  at- 
tributes of  Self.     Everyone  is  projecting  his  highest 

/  ideal  in  varied  idealization,  and  this  is  Self-worship. 
Ideals  are  consciously  or  unconsciously  treasured 
for  the  sake  of  Self,  dwelling  in  the  largest  and  the 
smallest.  This  is  true  of  every  circumstance,  object 
or  personality  which  awakens  love.  The  wife  or  hus- 
band is  loved  because  both  find  the  expression  of  their 
ideals  in  each  other.  It  is  the  same  with  all  loves.  If 
they  cease  to  interpret  the  ideal,  they  gradually  pass 
from  our  lives  and  there  remains  nothing  but  the 
memory  of  the  expression  of  the  ideal. 

Self  is  enchanted  with  Self  in  all  love.  Love  never 
really  finds  itself  until  the  ideal  is  cherished  for  its 
own  sake.  We  are  charmed  with  scenic  beauty  or  the 
rhapsodies  of  harmony.  We  want  nothing  from  the 
scene,  nothing  from  the  music,  loving  them  for  their 
own  sake.  We  revel  in  the  glory  of  the  ideal.  Our 
hearts  soar  and  become  one  with  it.  The  highest  ideal 
is  that  of  universal  oneness.     This  ideal  should  be 

'    realized,  not  only  in  the  partial,  but  in  the  infinite 


Steps  to  Self -Knowledge.  21 

sense.  Man's  ideal  can  be  projected  upon  the  uni- 
verse as  a  whole.  The  supreme  ideal  is  not  local  or 
temporal,  it  is  universal  and  eternal.  When  man 
realizes  that  the  principle  of  consciousness  is  beyond 
finiteness,  he  understands  the  truth  that  the  "I"  of 
every  being  is  the  same  as  his  own,  for  there  cannot 
be  two  infinite  "IV.  There  is  but  One.  All  beauty, 
royalty  and  praiseworthiness  are  His.  The  causal 
principle  of  love  is  character.  It  is  character  that  is 
loved  for  the  sake  of  character.  When  a  man  is 
spoken  of  as  good,  the  meaning  is  that  goodness  exists 
in  him.  Goodness  is  worshipped  in  the  personaliza- 
tion. Goodness  and  other  lovable  qualities  are  ab- 
stract. They  live  in  the  ideal.  They  are  superper- 
sonal  and  thus  are  inclusive  of  the  personal.  All 
finite  ideals  merge  into  the  impersonal  ideal  of  one- 
ness. He  who  has  realized  Self  sees  the  omnipresent 
ideal  pregnant  with  manifestation,  even  in  the  most 
abject,  and  worships  it.  He  sees  it  in  its  advanced 
stages  and  prostrates  himself  before  it.  He  sees  it  in 
highest  manifestation,  and  its  transcendant  beauty 
and  glory  overwhelm  him.  This  exalted  state  of  the 
soul  has  led  many  of  a  mystical  mind  into  practical 
effort  and  enthusiasm. 

Every  idea  is  confirmed  by  an_em.otion.  The  end 
of  evolution  is  refinement  of  sensibilities,  and  spirit- 
ual knowledge  specializes  highest  emotionalism. 
When  we  know,  we  feel.  Knowledge  and  feeling  are 
conterminous  and  inseparable.  Feeling  is  the  heart's 
approbation  of  the  findings  of  reason.  Truth-pene- 
trating as  statements  may  be,  they  never  have  the  con- 


22  Steps  to  Self-Knowledge. 

vinciiig  reality  of  emotions.  Realization  is  not  a 
climax  of  thought.  It  is  the  feeling  of  oneness  and 
identity  with  the  worm,  with  the  ant,  the  flowers  and 
trees,  the  mountains  and  seas  and  all  universal  beauty 
and  revelation.  Realization  is  the  divine  state  of  the 
soul  when  it  is  all  in  all  and  above  all  in  all.  Tra- 
herne,  the  mystic,  saw  the  same  life  existing  in  him 
as  in  other  beings.  He  saw  his  soul  in  the  soul  of 
every  man  and  woman,  and  in  the  natural  entirety. 
He  saw  Man  as  God.  He  exclaims;  "All,  all  are 
Deities."  Men  who  feel  these  thoughts  are  the  true 
poets  of  life. 

In  giving  up  this  finite  self  we  realize  the  One 
Infinite  Self.  The  highest  effort  of  man  is  in  dis- 
pelling ignorance  which,  like  a  great  pall,  darkens 
spiritual  perception.  In  getting  away  from  ignorance 
and  relating  itself  to  conscious  truth,  the  soul  ap- 
proaches the  otherwise  unapproachable  and  unknow- 
able. This  involves  the  great  renunciation,  when 
earthly  values  are  lost  sight  of  and  everything  which 
might  be  a  drawback  to  Self-realization  is  discarded. 

Philosophical  wrangling  over  the  Eternal  Question 
has  little  vital  bearing.  The  Buddha  benefitted  man- 
kind because  he  taught  an  ethical  system  which  does 
for  the  heart  what  concentration  and  introspective 
philosophy  do  for  the  mind.  He  inculcated  a  system 
in  which  truth  has  practical  application.  He  silenced 
the  insistent  questionings  of  reason  and  taught  his  fol-  (» 
lowers  that  truth  is  infused  into  the  soul  when  the  \ 
heart  is  pure  and  character  blameless.  Other  teach- 
ers  pursued   the   same   course.      The   Christ   said: 


Steps  to  Self -Knowledge.  23 

"Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they  shall  see 
God."  Mere  reasoning  is  circular.  It  has  small  part 
in  the  transformation  of  character.  It  does  not  erad- 
icate selfishness  nor  extinguish  the  fever  of  passion. 
The  entire  message  of  the  Christ  found  expression  in : 
"Love  one  another."  He  who  throws  himself  into  the 
water  to  rescue  his  fellowman  is  a  knower  of  Self.  He 
who  raises  his  hand  in  protection  of  the  weak  is  a 
knower  of  Self.  The  poet  or  the  teacher  from  whose 
lips  flow  words  of  wisdom  and  spiritual  appeal  is  a 
knower  of  Self.  Whosoever  subordinates  personal 
wishes  for  the  welfare  of  others  is  a  knower  of  Self. 

The  true  definition  of  Self-knowledge  is  distinct 
from  intellectual  knowledge.  A  man  may  never  have 
acquired  academic  knowledge,  yet,  if  he  is  a  sage,  he 
has  immediate  perception  of  truth.  Introspection 
answers  the  mental  need.  Transcendental  love  is  not 
different  from  transcendental  knowledge.  Knowledge 
leads  to  love,  and  love  leads  to  knoweldge.  The  great 
Knowers  of  mankind  are  inner  flames  of  love ;  while 
the  great  Lovers  of  mankind  are  repositories  of  great- 
est wisdom.  The  Buddha  was  as  great  a  lover  of 
mankind  as  a  knower,  and  the  Christ  as  great  a 
knower  as  a  lover.  He  who  initiates  himself  into  uni- 
versal kindness  and  brotherly  love  is  on  the  way  to 
enlightenment.  The  man  who  in  any  way  assists  his 
fellow-man  possesses  that  quality  which,  in  time,  leads 
him  to  the  feet  of  Self. 

The  end  of  all  effort  is  calm ;  the  end  of  all  strug- 
gle is  peace.  The  warfare  between  the  spiritual  and 
the  material  ends  in  the  victory  of  the  former.   Philo- 


24  Steps  to  Self-Knowledge. 

sophical  and  religions  enthusiasts,  whole-souled  in 
aspiration  for  Self-realization,  consider  nothing  too 
great  or  precious  to  sacrifice  in  the  interest  of  realiza- 
tion, should  necessity  for  sacrifice  arise.  They  know 
that  if  a  man  gain  the  whole  world  and  miss  the  Goal, 
his  career  is  utterly  useless.  It  is  not  in  possessing, 
but  in  becoming,  that  life  has  value.  Seclusion  is  one 
of  the  many  methods  adopted  by  those  seeking  spirit- 
ual development.  They  remove  themselves  from  the 
disturbing  influences  of  market  traffic  and  market 
life,  which  are  serious  impediments  in  the  way  of 
peace.  Retreat  into  mountain  fastnesses,  however,  is 
not  essential.  Great  kings  have  realized  Self  amid 
the  burdens  and  duties  of  royal  life,  and  the  world's 
greatest  teachers  elevated  the  ideals  of  civilization  in 
the  midst  of  worldly  activity.  The  mind  can  be  led 
into  the  inner  abode  of  silence,  where  peace  reigns 
eternal.  Real  seclusion  is  of  jjhe  mind.  It  is  not 
physical  remoteness  from  ordinary  surroundings  of 
life,  but  non-attachment  to  objects  and  circumstances 
which  causes  difficulties  in  the  path  of  spiritual  effort. 
It  is  in  seclusion  of  the  mind  into  inner  retreats  of 
the  soul.  Morality  has  value  in  this  seclusion,  for  it 
builds  impassible  walls  rendering  the  soul  free  from 
contaminating  influences.  As  an  instance,  the  prac- 
tice of  kindness  forms  the  habit  of  kindness,  and  in 
the  strength  of  this  habit  unkindness  does  not  exist. 

In  spiritual  development  there  are  often  moments 
of  weakness,  but  they  are  to  be  expected.  Human 
nature  is  liable  to  lapses,  for  the  bonds  of  ignorance 
and  selfishness  are  many.    It  is  natural  that  now  and 


Steps  to  Self-Knowledge.  25 

then  there  is  a  giving  way.  That  is  no  reason,  how- 
ever, why  gloom  should  cloud  the  mind.  Truth  is 
one  and,  though  her  modes  of  manifestation  be  many, 
they  all  converge  to  the  same  center.  Every  system 
implies  effort.  The  Vedas  command :  "Arise,  awake, 
and  stop  not  until  the  goal  is  reached."  Great  things 
are  not  to  be  achieved  by  the  weak.  Courage,  fearless- 
ness, and  cheerfulness  are  characteristic  of  those  who 
know  Self.  Patience  and  perseverance  will  overcome 
everything. 

Selfishness  is  the  cause  of  this  wrong  understand- 
ing of  the  real  Self.  The  more  this  selfishness  is  ex- 
pressed, the  greater  is  the  bondage  of  the  soul  in  this 
world  of  death  and  ignorance ;  the  farther  removed  it 
is  from  the  illumination,  bliss  and  omniscience  of 
spirit.  This  is  the  logic  of  utilitarianism.  This  also 
is  the  answer  which  spiritual  philosophy  makes  with 
regard  to  phenomenal  reality.  If  this  finite  order 
is  an  illusion,  the  soul  is  free  and  divine,  deathless 
and  eternal.  It  is  only  the  self-induced  hypnotism 
of  the  soul  which  credits  reality  to  the  phenomenal 
and  causes  the  round  of  birth  and  death  and  the  mani- 
festation of  manifoldness.  This  is  the  position  taken 
by  spiritual  teachers.  He  who  knows  Self  and  has 
realized  his  inner  nature,  and  before  whose  vision 
both  the  phenomenal  reality  and  cosmic  illusion  have 
vanished,  says:  "Of  this  universe  it  cannot  be  said 
that  it  exists,  neither  that  it  does  not  exist."  The 
free  soul  knows  Self  alone.  For  him  philosophy  has 
vanished,  for  philosophy  implies  relative  knowledge, 
something  as  yet  unknown,  but  he  who  has  realized 


26  Steps  to  Self-Knowledge. 

/  Self  has  realized  all.  He  is  the  essence  of  that  tran- 
l  scendant  knowledge  of  which  it  is  said:  "It  is  not 
\this,  it  is  not  that."  This  knowledge  is  one  with  the 
nature  and  essence  of  consciousness.  He  who  has 
passed  into  the  omnipresence  and  omniscience  of  Self 
is  spoken  of  in  negative  terms.  Likewise  must  his 
conception  of  the  universe  he  considered,  for,  the  state 
of  realization  is  incomprehensible.  It  has  passed 
beyond  both  "yes"  and  "no." 

Seated  on  thrones  of  porphyry  and  clad  with  the 
radiant  splendor  of  suns,  the  high  gods  rule  the 
destinies  of  the  universe.  These  gods  are  highly 
evolved  human  sages  who  have  not  as  yet  attained  the 
Goal,  who  must  again  be  incarnated  to  continue  the 
toilsome  ascent  on  the  Path  winding  from  the  un- 
knowable Past,  and  whose  end  is  beyond  the  under- 
standing of  super-Olympian  thought.  Yet  are  the 
thrones  of  these  gods  built  on  the  sands  of  Imperma- 
nency,  for  all-devouring  Time  hastens  the  moment 
when  the  merit  of  their  good  deeds  and  super-human 
efforts  determines  their  long-abiding  bliss.  The  phi- 
losopher who  wanders  over  the  face  of  the  earth  in  the 
mendicant's  garb,  who,  attaining  the  highest  knowl- 
edge, has  revealed  Self  unto  Self,  has  greater  majesty 
than  all  the  gods.  Birth  continues  again  and  again 
j  until  truth  is  known  and  realized ;  but  there  is  peace 
Sj^ito  those  who  strive,  and  peace  unto  those  who  love. 


SELF  AKD  THE  COSMOS. 


CHAPTEE  II. 


SELF  AND  THE  COSMOS. 


Out  of  silence  came  sound ;  out  of  darkness,  light, 
and  from  formlessness  arose  the  beauty  of  form.  Be- 
fore the  temporal  reigned  the  Eternal ;  but  the  reality 
of  the  Eternal  is  clouded  by  the  illusory  qualities  of 
nature,  transposing,  with  the  deceptivity  of  magic, 
ignorance  into  seeming  intelligence,  and  darkness  into 
seeming  light.  The  entire  universe  was  primarily 
obscured,  its  forms  and  forces  slumbering  in  the 
Potential.  Flowers  and  stars,  mountains,  forests  and 
seas,  suns  and  their  light,  and  breathing  creatures 
were  not.  The  gods  were  not,  nor  the  heavenly 
spheres,  nor  those  of  the  underworld.  Differentiation 
did  not  exist,  for  oneness  and  sameness  prevailed 
throughout.  The  manifesting  principle,  from  which 
everything  proceeds,  self-contained  within  its  vast- 
ness,  enwrapt  the  worlds  in  infinite  brooding  dark- 
ness,— darkness  shrouded  in  darkness.  Yet  it  was 
not  activeless,  but  astir  with  life  to  be.  The  Infinite 
included  the  Infinite.  Finiteness  was  not,  nor  its 
action,  nor  its  law.  No  light  shone  forth,  no  voice, 
nor  intelligence.  A  Nothingness  existed,  a  vast  reser- 
voir of  Non-Being  wherein  all  manifestation  was  in- 
cluded, a  Non-Being  wherein  all  was  Life  harboring 
the  germ  of  a  myriad-fold  universe. 


GO  Self  and  the  Cosmos. 

From  this  condition  nature  arose  by  gradual  pro- 
cesses, evolving  the  things  we  see  and  the  things  we 
know,  and  much  that  we  neither  see  nor  know ;  bring- 
ing into  expression  all  forms,  and  conditioning  "lower 
selves"  which  view  the  phenomenal  as  the  real,  them- 
selves as  possessed  of  form,  limited  intelligence  and 
liable  to  birth  and  death.  Out  of  the  whole  came  the 
part,  out  of  the  great,  the  small. 

Man's  relation  to  the  cosmos,  and  his  idea  of  cos- 
mic evolution,  determines  his  conception  of  Self.  If 
he  believes  Self  existent  through  the  movements  of  the 
cosmic  mechanism,  a  condensation  of  atomic  dust,  or 
an  expression  of  universal  intelligence,  he  is  wrong. 
If  he  believes  Self  and  the  universe  existent  through 
the  personal  will  of  an  extra-cosmic  divinity,  he  is 
wrong.  The  question,  "what  is  the  origin  of  the 
soul,"  is  self-contradictory.  Origin  implies  that  time 
was  when  the  soul  did  not  exist,  and  that,  through 
some  unknowable  pressure,  it  was  conditioned  into 
relative  existence  with  a  fiinite  destiny.  Origin,  too, 
implies  end.  Something  which  has  beginning  and 
continues  forever  cannot  be  imagined.  An  infinitely 
straight  line  is  a  mathematical  impossibility.  The 
thought  that  the  soul  had  a  beginning  has  value  in  re- 
lation to  morals.  Paradoxical  as  it  may  seem,  relig- 
ious systems  have  made  men  irreligious  in  teaching 
dogmas,  such  as  original  sin  and  eternal  damnation, 
causing  weakness  and  self-belittlement. 

There  is  no  greater  deity  than  Man.  He  is  the  only 
deity  in  the  universe.  Not  the  personal  man,  how- 
ever, but  the  Impersonal,  which  is  the  essence  of  the 


Self  and  the  Cosmos.  31 

personal.  In  the  innermost  sanctuary  of  every  life 
is  this  Impersonal  principle,  from  which  all  personal- 
ity, distinction  and  separation  have  come.  The  Im- 
personal is  the  spirit  of  the  unmanifested  and  the  un- 
changeable. It  is  the  Over-Soul,  the  World-Soul. 
The  World-Soul  is  not  different  from  the  individual 
soul,  nor  is  It  greater.  Neither  the  Soul  nor  Supreme 
have  origin  or  destiny.  Ancient,  unborn  and  ever- 
lasting, they  cannot  be  spoken  of  as  finite,  as  begin- 
ning, or  as  subject  to  birth  and  death ;  for  that  would 
imply  imperfection  and  change.  It  is  the  body  which 
is  born  and  dies.  It  is  the  mind  which  fluctuates. 
Both  mind  and  the  body  are  changeable,  imperfect, 
conditioned  and  finite. 

All  reasoning  is  limited.  A  particle  of  intelligence 
implies  infinite  intelligence,  just  as  a  point  or  form 
contrasts  with  unlimited  space.  This  is  the  basic 
recognition  of  the  infinite,  both  in  a  mental  and 
physical  sense.  Vision  is  conditioned  by  the  infinitely 
non-seeable.  Assist  sight  with  the  most  perfect  me- 
chanical instruments  and  the  vision  is  still  limited, 
for  there  is  ever  the  non-seeable.  This  also  applies 
to  the  conception  of  life.  Manifestations  of  life  we 
call  souls ;  infinite  life  we  call  God.  But  the  Infinite 
and  the  finite  cannot  co-exist.  Infiinity  alone  is,  and 
man's  existence  must  be  identified  therewith.  There 
cannot  be  as  many  infinities  as  there  are  individual 
creatures.  There  is  but  One  All-inclusive  Infinity. 
That  is  the  Self,  and  the  Vedas  say:  "Thou  are 
That." 

This  is  the  synthetic  conclusion  of  philosophy.    Be- 


32  Self  and  the  Cosmos. 

yond  it  reason  cannot  go.  All  other  systems  are  lim- 
ited and  limited  ideas  lead  to  limited  moral  and  emo- 
tional results.  Highest  truth  leads  to  highest  moral 
and  spiritual  education.  The  monistic  conception  of 
the  origin  of  the  soul  must  be  entertained.  It  is  the 
one  rational  and  irrefutable  argument  supporting 
spiritual  philosophy.  If  the  mind  is  imperfectly 
educated,  expression  of  character  and  emotion  is  im- 
perfect ;  if  our  thoughts  are  elevated,  our  lives  will  be 
likewise.  Menta-psychical  cults  are  not  far  from  the 
truth.  The  mind  is  the  determining  factor  in  sense 
perception,  mental  vision,  discrimination  and,  in  a 
relative  sense,  in  spiritual  conditions,  aspirations  and 
progress.  If  truth  is  to  be  perceived  and  practically 
-related,  a  revaluation  of  much,  accepted  as  truth  con- 
cerning the  origin  of  the  soul,  is  necessary.  The 
Mosaic  record  is  too  primitive  to  carry  conviction  in 
this  age  of  biological  and  psychological  discovery. 

Vivified  by  the  glory  of  Its  existence  and  light  the 
Infinite  is  cognizant  of  the  Infinite,  and  this  is  crea- 
tion. The  Infinite,  is  perceiving  the  Infinite,  and  this 
is  creation.  Filled  with  life  eternal,  the  Infinite  is 
manifesting  Its  infinity,  and  this  is  creation.  In  the 
beginning  It.  was  One  without  a  second.  It  is  no  less 
so  now.  Yet  in  Its  inscrutibleness  the  Infinite,  con- 
taining all  manifoldness,  covers  Itself  with  this  qual- 
ity, and  this  is  creation.  The  Infinite  is  the  Eternal 
Subject.  It  knows  Self  as  Self,  and  this  is  creation. 
In  Its  manifoldness  we  call  It  the  finite.  Never  was 
it,  nor  can  it  be  the  finite.  A  distinction  of  finiteness 
arises  through  witnessing  the  One  as  the  witnesser 


Self  and  the  Cosmos.  33 

and  Self  as  the  witnessed.  But  it  is  all  a  vast  dream. 
The  Infinite  is  asleep,  forgetful  of  divinity,  omnip- 
otence, transcendency  and  infinite  qualities.  Nature 
is  only  manifestation  caused  by  the  Self-reflection  of 
the  Infinite.  The  Infinite  peered  into  the  crystal 
depths  of  Its  essence  and  in  this  crystal  depth  It  saw 
Self.  The  Infinite,  being  all  life,  imparted  life  to 
Its  Image,  and  in  this  was  the  origin  of  Man  and 
life.  All  is  the  image  of  the  Infinite,  mirrored  in 
depth  of  Its  own  perfection.  The  image  asks :  "Who 
am  I  ?"  and  in  this  cry  was  voiced  the  destiny  of  the 
First  Born,  the  principle  of  creation,  the  evolution 
and  the  dissolution  of  form  and  force.  The  Infinite 
calls  the  image  the  lower  self,  and  exclaims,  "Mine 
image !  Mine  image !  Thou  are  I  and  I  am  Thou !" 
This  is  the  perpetual  relation  of  the  Infinite  to  Its 
image,  and  the  image,  unmindful  of  this  relation, 
wanders  through  cycles  of  existence,  all  unconscious 
of  its  origin.  To  appreciate  the  relation  is  realiza- 
tion ;  it  is  Nirvana. 

Infinite  in  beauty,  radiance  and  glory  is  the  Self- 
vision  of  the  Infinite.  In  its  cyclings  the  image  comes 
into  relation  with  these  shining  qualities.  It  adores 
and  offers  sacrifices  to  them,  and  in  this  worship  the 
image  expands,  embracing  more  and  more  of  the  es- 
sence of  the  Beflector.  In  this  way  the  image  is  re- 
united to  the  Infinite,  even  as  lover  and  beloved  are 
one.  Badiant  is  life  by  reason  of  the  Infinite  One, 
radiant  in  possibilities,  radiant  in  unfoldment.  Glad 
is  the  image  of  its  origin.  It  peers  into  the  radiance 
and  glory  of  the  Infinite,  even  as  the  Infinite  Nar- 


34  Self  and  the  Cosmo?. 

cissus  peers  into  the  adorable  qualities  of  Its  Reflec- 
tion. The  Infinite,  pleased  with  Its  image,  bestows 
providential  love  and  tenderness  upon  it.  The  ideal- 
ist is  ever  aiming  at  union  with  the  ideal.  The  In- 
finite ever  reaches  to  clasp  Its  Reflection  to  Its  uni- 
versal heart.  What  words  can  describe  that  state 
when  the  image  is  conscious  of  the  identity  of  Self 
and  the  Infinite.  The  image  realizes  that  it  never 
knew  fear,  nor  change,  nor  sorrow,  nor  the  limitations 
of  the  finite.  The  image  realizes  that  it  was  always 
the  Infinite,  and  that  through  the  Infinite  was  life, 
expression  and  all  and  all. 

This  is  realization ;  this  is  Nirvana. 

Stand  up  and  declare  your  divinity.  Declare  that 
you  are  the  image  of  the  Eternal  Spirit.  Through 
this  assertion  comes  realization  of  the  Ideal ;  through 
this  realization  comes  psychic  control.  When  Self 
is  realized,  all  power  and  knowledge  is  not  a  part  of 
the  soul,  but  its  whole  nature. 
A  Psychic  control  and  Self-knowledge  do  not  belong 
in  the  realm  of  commercial  values.  Money  has  noth- 
ing to  do  with  the  acquirement  of  spiritual  truths; 
and  the  true  Teacher  does  not  make  traffic  of  his 
knowledge.  His  teachings  are  not  for  sale,  but  for 
realization  and  application.  Could  Self-knowledge 
and  psychic  control  be  purchased  with  money,  it 
would  be  a  very  easy  and  for  many  a  very  comfort- 
able manner  of  obtaining  priceless  possessions.  The 
truth  is,  it  requires  much  vital  effort  and  the  upbuild- 
ing of  high  moral  and  mental  standards.     It  is  not 


Self  and  the  Cosmos.  35 

but  in  the  effort  man  becomes  a  god.  Desire  to  realize 
is  the  supreme  necessity.  When  desire  is  vital,  nothing 
can  come  between  the  object  and  the  soul  which  de- 
sires. The  desire  overcomes  all  obstruction,  and  the 
end  is  one.  Without  fixed  desire  spiritual  knowledge 
cannot  be  attained.  The  initial  effort  must  come 
from  the  individual  soul.  Xo  other  can  light  the  way. 
When  desire  for  truth  becomes  a  haunting  idea,  un- 
intermittingly  persisting  in  consciousness,  it  is  sincere 
and  fruit-bearing.  The  drowning  man  wants  to  be 
saved.  That  is  true  desire.  The  hungry  and  thirsty 
are  truly  desirous  of  food  and  drink,  and,  somehow, 
manage  to  get  it.  In  relative  matters  the  seeker  is 
only  satisfied  in  accomplishing  his  purpose.  Let  him 
spiritualize  desire  and  exalt  it  into  higher  modes  of 
expression,  and  peace  and  exaltation  will  crown  his 
efforts.  The  joy  of  succeeding  in  relative  quest  is 
transient  compared  with  the  joy  of  success  in  spiritual 
quest.  As  the  hungry  find  food  and  the  thirsty  drink, 
so  the  spiritual  seeker  finds  the  Teaching  and  is  led 
into  the  presence  of  the  Teacher.  Where  there  is  a 
want  there  is  a  condition  to  satisfy  that  want.  This 
is  true  of  physical  and  mental  desires ;  it  is  particu- 
larly true  of  desires  connected  with  the  development 
of  the  soul. 

It  is  often  said  that  this  view  of  life,  of  Self  and 
the  cosmos,  is  impractical,  bears  no  relation  to  the 
ordinary  course  of  life,  and  in  no  way  assists  the  man 
of  the  world.  This  is  the  accusation  brought  against 
every  system  of  thought  final  in  its  conclusions,  but 
there  is  no  half-way  philosophy.    Truth  does  not  con- 


36  Self  and  the  Cosmos. 

form  to  any  condition  of  life  not  in  relation  to  truth, 
and  cannot  be  lowered  to  make  its  teachings  comfort- 
able. If  there  is  one  direct  way  for  men  to  travel,  it 
is  the  only  road  to  take.  If  there  is  only  one  choice 
to  make,  men  must  abide  by  that  choice.  The  sugges- 
tion, that  the  impractical  renders  man  unfit  for  social 
obligations  and  the  condition  in  which  he  finds  him- 
self, is  untrue.  Such  accusation  demands  imperative 
answer.  Does  an  ideal  philosophy  render  its  adher- 
ents impractical  ?  At  present  there  are  numerous  sects 
whose  creed  is  manifestly  impractical.  Their  ideals 
are  at  variance  with  every-day  experience,  yet  they 
are  successful,  some  of  them  succeeding  enormously. 
This  is  because  man  is  always  looking  forward  to  the 
ideal.  He  cannot  live  without  ideals,  and  that  is  why 
he  desperately  clings  to  systems  of  thought  and  creed 
which  express  the  idealistic.  He  distrusts  agnosti- 
cism, and  attempts  to  render  the  ideal  in  practical 
terms,  and  succeeds  in  so  doing.  Many  a  prosperous 
man  owes  his  wealth  through  practice  of  principles 
of  New  Thought.  In  this  manner  he  has  aroused 
that  stored-up  energy  behind  the  human  soul,  that 
magazine  of  omnipotence  back  of  all  nature,  and 
brought  it  to  bear  upon  the  practical  issues  of  life. 
He  has,  perhaps,  unconsciously  done  so,  but  the  value 
is  equal.  The  knowledge  that  he  can  rely  upon  in- 
finite strength  as  a  never-failing  source  of  inspira- 
tion is  of  practical  benefit  to  the  believer.  Concen- 
tration, and  the  power  which  it  arouses,  has  value 
in  all  concerns  of  life.  In  the  criticism  of  idealistic 
philosophy,  the  objection  may  again  be  met  by  asking, 


Self  and  the  Cosmos.  P>7 

"What  is  practical  ?  What  is  meant  ?"  Practicality, 
in  its  commonly  accepted  meaning,  is  associated  with 
self-interest,  the  pursuit  of  happiness  and  self- 
advancement.  Therein  lies  the  value  of  being  prac- 
tical in  the  worldly  point  of  view,  but  when  the  soul 
has  realized  its  existence,  what  higher  practicality 
can  there  be  than  pursuit  of  its  welfare  ?  If  you  are 
practical,  the  sage  assures  you  that  he  also  is  practical. 
You  find  practicality  where  he  cannot  find  it.  You 
place  emphasis  on  what  he  mercilessly  discards.  He 
finds  value  where  you  see  vanity  of  effort.  You  set 
importance  where  he  underestimates.  The  highest 
practicality  attends  to  Self,  and  the  highest  interest 
of  Self  are  spiritual. 

Sincere  desire  and  its  practical  attitude  are  often 
confused.  Spasmodic  desire  manifests  in  a  haphaz- 
ard and  short-lived  manner.  In  illustration,  when 
one  is  bereft  of  material  advantages,  or  when  the 
hand  of  death  touches  his  life,  he  considers  the  things 
of  earth  unimportant,  and  turns  his  attention  to  relig- 
ion in  the  hope  of  finding  consolation.  For  a  time 
he  holds  fast  to  the  spiritual ;  then  temporal  joys  and 
cares  again  absorb  the  mind  and  the  material  atti- 
tude prevails.  This  is  not  spiritual  aspiration. 
"Conversion"  is  another  mistaken  aspiration.  True, 
conversion  may  occur.  The  soul,  overcome  by  a  ray  of 
light  from  the  divine  Self,  may  be  spontaneously 
illumined.  The  ray  pierces  the  darkness  of  ignor- 
ance and  sense  bondage,  and  the  soul  ascends  to  higher 
planes  where  the  spirit  is  freer  and  its  progress  quick- 
ens.   But  such  instances  are  rare.    The  average  con- 


38  Self  and  the  Cosmos. 

version  is  psychological  rather  than  religious.  Sym- 
bolism, oratory,  music  and  impressive  ceremony  influ- 
ence the  mind  until  it  reaches  a  susceptible  point  and 
falls  in  with  the  idea  of  conversion.  Powerful  ora- 
tory and  transmitted  vibratory  influences  have  hyp- 
notic value,  many  times  leading  the  convert  to  pros- 
trate himself  at  the  feet  of  the  minister,  to  declare 
that  he  is  a  "miserable  sinner."  Neither  is  this  true 
conversion.  It  is  psychopathic.  It  may  have  relative 
influence  in  exalting  the  mind  for  a  time,  but  this 
state  does  not  last.  From  within,  alone  from  within, 
comes  true  conversion.  It  has  no  relation  to  exter- 
nals. It  is  the  conversion  of  the  lower  self  into 
higher  expression  and  nobler  ambition.  It  is  a  con- 
version of  values,  a  transposition  of  ethical  princi- 
ples, a  conversion  of  the  essential  man,  not  of  the 
outward  shadow.  True  conversion  distracts  the  mind 
from  the  momentary  and  ephemeral.  It  is  the  reali- 
zation of  what  is  true  and  real ;  it  is  the  perception 
of  the  soul  as  the  soul. 

Instead  of  making  love  the  factor  in  conversion,  the 
average  revivalist  makes  fear  the  compelling  force; 
instead  of  showing  the  ignorant  the  way  of  Self,  revi- 
valism frequently  casts  them  into  deeper  abysses  of 
superstition.  Instead  of  the  soul  being  called  by  its 
true  name,  the  name  implying  the  free,  the  holy  and 
the  divine,  it  is  cursed  with  the  epithet  of  "sinner." 
Instead  of  being  the  conversion  it  is  the  perversion 
of  the  soul. 

The  inner  perception  is  truth-illuminating.  The 
sense  and  the  object  come  out  of  a  single  order.    The 


Self  and  the  Cosmos.  39 

soul  and  the  cosmos  come  out  of  the  same  order. 
Being  and  Non-Being  are  the  same  principle  dually 
considered.  Life  and  death  are  but  different  names 
for  the  same  reality ;  it  is  the  soul  which  is  the  expe- 
riencer  of  life  and  death.  Cause  and  effect  are  one ; 
Self  and  the  cosmos  are  one.  The  cause  is  one;  the 
effect  may  be  manifold,  but  as  the  cause  is  the  effect 
manifested,  there  is  no  essential  distinction  between 
the  two.  The  cause  has  only  clothed  itself  in  form. 
The  principle  of  universal  life  that  evolved  the  cos- 
mos does  not  exist  as  separate  from  the  cosmos.  It  is 
the  cosmos.  Life  and  intelligence  are  but  the  condi- 
tions of  a  higher  order  of  existence  in  which  they  are 
included.  This  unknowable  existence  in  evolving  the 
universe  materializes  its  nature,  law  and  essence.  It 
alone  is  the  existent.  It  is  the  cause  of  this  universe ; 
likewise,  the  differentiated  effect.  In  expression,  it 
appears  as  many;  in  the  dissolution  and  the  absorp- 
tion of  the  effect,  it  returns  to  its  causal  state,  the  syn- 
thetic unity  of  the  undifferentiated. 

Self  is  the  cause  of  the  universe,  and  Self  is  the 
effect.  Self  is  the  cosmos ;  Self  is  the  reality  beyond 
the  cosmos. 

When  reason  is  spiritualized,  it  possesses  discrim- 
inating wisdom.  It  perceives  that,  in  the  phenom- 
enal, all  is  motion  and  change.  Wearied  of  complexi- 
ties that  only  darken  the  mental  vision,  the  soul  relies 
upon  spiritual  elements  to  assist  it  in  reaching  purer 
regions  of  conscious  discernment.  This  is  the  higher 
mental  unfoldment;  through  it  comes  right  under- 
standing of  Self. 


40  Self  and  the  Cosmos. 

Science  recognizes  two  underlying  strata  of  all 
forms  and  forces.  The  first  of  these  is  universal  sub- 
stance, the  other  universal  force.  All  phenomena 
are  reducible  to  these.  It  was  a  long  and  toilsome 
way  ere  this  truth  was  discerned.  Belief  in  the  solid- 
ity of  objects  had  to  be  eradicated.  The  reality  of 
color,  form,  and  innumerable  objective  qualities  had 
to  be  viewed  in  different  light.  Their  reality  is  now 
recognized  to  be  purely  mental.  We  are  only  con- 
scious of  sensations,  such  as  color,  form,  heat,  cold, 
solidity,  fluidity,  and  so  forth.  All  that  is  known  of 
the  outer  world  is  what  is  transmitted  to  the  mind 
through  external  impression.  Sensation  is  the  only 
criterion  of  sense  reality.  "Matter  is  the  permanent 
possibility  of  sensation,"  says  John  Stuart  Mill.  That 
is,  matter  is  a  condition  of  sensation  existing  through 
mental  response  to  external  impression.  In  this  light, 
heat  is  a  mental  state.  An  impression  passes  along 
different  nerve  conduits  of  the  body,  reaches  the  brain 
and  is  there  transmitted  as  the  sensation  of  heat.  It 
is  the  same  with  all  sensations.  They  exist  only  as 
qualities  of  mind.  Instead  of  realizing  that  nature  is 
the  product  of  sensation,  conditioned  b}7  mental  proc- 
esses, men  transpose  sensations  upon  external  impres- 
sions and  accord  reality  to  phenomena,  when  it  exists 
solely  in  the  relations  of  the  mind. 

As  long  as  we  call  this  world  of  change  and  mani- 
foldness  of  itself  real,  so  long  will  we  be  subject  to  its 
laws.  The  recognition  of  reality  solely  in  the  exter- 
nal is  the  attitude  taken  by  the  lower  self,  which  sees 
the  effect  alone  and  cannot  distinguish  the  cause  be- 


Self  and  the  Cosmos.  41 

yond  the  effect.  It  sees  reality  only  in  the  dispen- 
sation of  the  temporal  and  seemingly  concrete.  Be- 
fore it  can  make  any  real  progress  it  must  discard 
this  superstition.  The  highest  knowledge  is  the  great- 
est power.  Learn  to  realize  the  external  in  the  inter- 
nal, for  there  alone  it  has  existence.  Man  is  suscep- 
tible to  error.  About  him  he  sees  visible  realities, 
tangible  and  concrete.  The  mind  has  habituated  itself 
to  view  its  relations  with  phenomena  as  the  only  and 
final  evidence.  Even  the  greatest  thinkers,  who 
know  that  the  body  is  only  an  apparition,  that  it 
comes  and  goes,  are  influenced  by  it.  The  mind, 
after  having  lent  meaning,  color,  form  and  light  to 
outer  impressions,  after  having  clothed  them  with 
seeming  reality  by  imparting  its  light  upon  their 
dark  nature,  forgets  the  task  it  has  performed  and 
falls  before  its  mind-made  idols.  It  worships  and 
serves  what  should  worship  and  serve  it.  The  cre- 
ated rises  above  the  creator. 

The  soul  cannot  govern  conditions  until  it  realizes 
that  it  is  above  conditions,  until  it  knows  that  nothing 
can  bind  it,  that  nothing  can  limit  its  activity,  nor  hin- 
der the  greater  expression  of  its  divine  nature.  Prac- 
tical application  manifests  in  daily  assertion  that  the 
reality  behind  the  soul  and  the  reality  behind  nature 
is  identical,  not  something  different,  as  the  senses 
imply.  Unassisted  sense  experience  is  deceptive ;  but, 
when  educated  in  the  knowledge  of  scientific  laws,  it 
assists  mental  discrimination.  The  soul  should  real- 
ize that  each  object  of  the  senses  is  an  image  of  the 
mind.     It  should  meditate  on  that  inner  subjective 


42  Self  and  the  Cosmos. 

reality,  in  which  both  the  pcrceiver  and  the  perceived 
lose  their  separate  reality  and  merge  into  all-permeat- 
ing and  unqualified  existence.  There  is  a  condition 
in  which  all  substance  and  force  find  synthetic  unity, 
and  manifoldness  disappears.  The  state  is  the  static 
state,  when  nature  is  at  a  standstill.  Nature  rises  in 
cycles,  completes  and  draws  them  to  a  close.  The 
time  is  when  there  is  no  manifestation ;  time  is  when 
manifestation  is ;  again  manifestation  is  not.  Poten- 
tial existence  is  as  real  as  manifested  existence.  Every 
thing  is  subject  to  change.  The  philosopher  finds 
that  his  mind  is  a  reflection  of  this  outward  order, 
where  all  is  passing.  He  also  discovers  that  the  mind 
is  the  source  and  sustaining  principle  of  all  this 
activity. 

In  sense  perception  the  thing  perceived  and  the 
perceiver  are  separate  and  distinct.  The  one  is  the 
knower,  the  other  the  known.  One  is  life,  the  other 
is  that  upon  which  life  is  acting.  The  knower  takes 
hold,  so  to  speak,  of  an  outer  impression,  covering  it 
with  its  own  essence,  and  identifying  itself  with  the 
mind-covered  impression.  When  a  person  is  angry 
he  identifies  himself  with  the  state  called  anger. 
Anger  and  he  were  at  first  different.  Then  a  wave- 
form, conditioned  by  outer  impress,  crossed  the  mind. 
Through  the  reaction  of  the  mind  upon  the  impres- 
sion, anger  arose.  Something  is  brought  to  the  atten- 
tion of  consciousness ;  consciousness  considers  it,  and 
then  passes  judgment  in  the  form  of  reaction.  A 
stone  thrown  into  the  water  disturbs  it.  The  mind  is 
like  a  clear  lake.     Outer  impressions  are  like  stones 


Self  and  the  Cosmos.  43 

which  are  being  thrown  into  it.  Wave-ripples  follow. 
The  ripples  subside,  but  come  again  whenever  the 
surface  of  the  mind  is  disturbed.  The  mind  is  the 
receptacle  into  which  sense  impressions  unceasingly 
flow.  Whenever  an  impression  is  brought  to  the 
mind  it  pauses  to  understand  the  new  condition. 
When  it  is  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the  impres- 
sion it  reacts,  either  in  the  form  of  a  mental  attitude, 
or  physical  motion.  This  is  continuously  repeated 
and,  finally,  this  process  becomes  automatic.  Each 
separate  activity  of  life  was  developed  in  this  man- 
ner, but  through  repetition  the  triple  process  of  re- 
ceiving, contemplating  and  reacting  upon  an  impres- 
sion has  become  indistinguishable.  They  are  never 
conterminous,  however;  they  follow  in  consecutive 
progress.  It  is  similar  to  the  disturbance  of  water 
caused  by  throwing  stones.  First,  is  the  disturbance 
of  the  water.  Then,  lapsing  seconds  occur  during 
which  the  water  seeks  equilibrium.  The  result  is 
wave-ripples.  The  water,  so  to  speak,  has  received 
an  impression,  meditated  upon  it,  and  flashed  the  re- 
action across  its  surface.  This  metaphor  illustrates 
the  condition  of  the  mind  in  relation  to  nature.  In 
the  beginning  the  mind  was  a  clear  crystal.  Then 
arose  innumerable  impressions  which  registered 
themselves  on  its  surface.  The  mind  reacted.  These 
reactions  subsided,  forming  the  basis  of  memory  and 
the  formation  of  character.  No  motion  is  lost. 
These  reactions  become  fine,  potential,  and  always 
have  present  value  in  influencing  expression  in  ratio 
to  their  past  number  and  force.     Within  the  depths 


44  Self  and  the  Cosmos. 

of  the  mind  are  the  reactions  of  innumerable  lives. 
Science  calls  this  heredity ;  spiritual  philosophy  says 
this  embodies  the  principle  of  reincarnation.  Reflex 
and  automatic  movements  of  the  body,  over  which 
consciousness  has  lost  control,  "were  once  in  the  con- 
scious spectrum,  in  lives  long  past,  when  conscious- 
ness manifested  in  other  lives. 

These  thoughts  show  the  connection  between  the 
external  and  the  internal;  between  the  soul  and  na- 
ture. In  reality  unconditioned,  the  soul  has  woven 
the  veil  of  ignorance  through  constant  identification 
with  phenomena.  The  soul  alone  is  real,  but  its  ex- 
istence is  that  of  Self.  It  is  the  light  of  Self  which 
illumines  nature. 

It  is  Thou,  O  Self,  shining  in  the  land.  Thou 
shinest  in  the  stars.  Thou  art  present  in  the  light- 
ning, Thou  in  the  flame.  "Through  Thy  control  the 
sky  expands,  through  Thy  control  the  air  breathes, 
through  Thy  control  the  sun  shines,  all  lives  are." 
All  this  manifestation  is  worship  to  Thee ;  evolution 
and  dissolution  but  human  terms  for  the  absorp- 
tion of  Thyself  within  Thyself,  and  for  the  manifes- 
tation of  Thyself  in  Thine  image.  This  apparent 
manifoldness  of  life  and  form  is  the  myriad-fold 
vision  of  Thyself  in  the  mirror  of  nature.  Reach 
Thine  image  through  and  through  its  limited  con- 
sciousness, and  in  Thy  all-consciousness  absorb  it. 

The  dream  of  the  practical  and  of  sense  and 
separate  existence  vanishes  when  the  shrine  of  the 
heart  is  opened  to  spiritual  perception.  There  the 
Self  is  enthroned  in  garments  of  universal  light  and 


Self  and  the  Cosmos.  45 

life.  In  illumination  the  soul  sits  at  the  shore  of 
infinite  bliss  content  with  the  murmurs  of  its  music. 
The  dream  is  the  dreamer,  and  the  dreamer  the 
dream.  All  is  a  vast  illusion.  Self  alone  is  the  life 
of  dream  and  dreamer.  The  waves  are  only  on  the 
surface.  The  sigh  of  the  restless  sea  of  Being,  and 
the  sweeping  of  its  endless  tides  are  only  on  the  sur- 
face. The  value  in  the  effort  of  realization  is  the 
consciousness  that  each  struggle  is  a  nearer  approach 
to  the  totality  of  existence  embodied  in  Self.  It  is 
not  in  announcing  the  little  that  the  great  is  achieved, 
but  in  emphasizing  the  great  and  discarding  the 
little.  The  whole  universe  throbs  for  man,  not  alone 
in  the  picturesqueness  of  symbology,  but  in  the  all- 
reality  of  fact. 

Philosophy  begins  with  search  after  truth ;  it  ends 
in  absolute  union  with  truth.  The  inquirer,  per- 
turbed in  the  beginning,  reaches  the  heights  where 
desire  is  spiritualized  and  philosophical  conclusions 
become  conscious  facts.  The  sage,  one  with  Self,  sees 
no  difference;  he  is  the  declarer  of  infinite  unity. 
Instead  of  the  cycle  of  rebirth,  he  witnesses  only  one 
absorbing  principle  of  life,  the  source  and  the  outlet 
of  Being. 

The  motion  of  the  universe  is  a  series  of  infinite 
rhythms.  Confusion  arises  in  man  thinking  of 
nature  as  self-illumined,  when  its  qualities,  apart 
from  the  vivifying  principle  of  Spirit,  are  dark  and 
insensate.  Spirit  alone  possesses  knowledge;  there 
are  no  knowing  qualities  in  nature.  Spirit  alone  is 
the  creator  and  preserver ;  nature  is  chaos.    The  vari- 


46  Self  and  the  Cosmos. 

ableness  and  manifoldness  of  the  external  is  the  sym- 
bolism, the  expression  of  the  soul. 

To  learn  the  meaning  of  its  evolution  is  the  edu- 
cation of  the  soul.  The  soul  is  conditioned  in  mani- 
festation, but,  awakened  to  spiritual  perception,  it  is 
assisted  by  nature  in  its  effort  at  freedom  and  the 
realization  of  knowledge.  The  soul,  enshrouded  in 
limitation,  forgets  its  omniscience  and  omnipotence, 
its  birthright  of  divinity.  Through  the  dual  process 
of  life  and  death,  pleasure  and  pain,  nature  is  teach- 
ing the  soul  that  its  yearning  cannot  be  satisfied  by 
the  temporal  and  ephemeral.  Nature  is  a  judicious 
mother.  When  there  is  need  for  chastisement  she  ad- 
ministers it,  inflicting  pain  upon  the  soul  enslaved  to 
sense-pleasures.  This  continues  through  lives  and 
lives.  Little  by  little  the  veil  of  ignorance  is  re- 
moved, and  little  by  little  the  great  light  and  glory 
of  Self  manifest.  In  the  end  the  soul  realizes  that  it 
is  existence,  knowledge  and  bliss  absolute.  Experi- 
ence is  the  greatest  teacher.  We  are  children,  and 
experience  the  mother  who  gently  takes  us  through 
this  dark  universe.  If  we  stumble  on  the  path  she 
admonishes  us  to  pay  closer  attention,  for  the  path 
is  narrow. 

"Long  is  the  way,  but  the  end  is  sure." 


RELATIVE    TRUTHS. 


CHAPTER   III. 


RELATIVE    TRUTHS. 


The  Infinite  thought:  "I  AM,"  and  the  physical 
moved  in  the  night  of  primeval  darkness.  The  Infi- 
nite thought :  "Let  there  be  Light,"  and  light  flooded 
the  cosmos.  When  light  was,  the  magic  wand  of  re- 
newed life  touched  the  souls  who  breathed  and  moved 
in  the  spheres  of  the  Past.  Time  dawned.  The 
morning  stars  sang,  and  the  souls  of  the  morning 
stars  are  the  archangels  of  the  universe. 

The  golden  sun  is  the  principle  of  physical  expres- 
sion, the  aeon-revolving  orb  whose  light  permeates  all 
manifestation,  whose  life  is  boundless  energy. 

There  is  another  Sun,  however,  inimitably  more 
glorious,  the  source,  not  only  of  the  radiance  of  the 
Star  guiding  our  solar  system,  but  of  the  splendor  of 
all  the  stars.  Orion  and  Arcturus  are  its  servants; 
Aldebardn  and  Sirius,  dispensers  of  its  magnitudin- 
ous  force,  inheritors  of  its  infinite  life. 

This  is  the  Spiritual  Sun  from  which  originated  the 
pristine  meaning  of  form  and  the  pristine  symbol  of 
life.  The  ancient  Aryan,  regarding  the  physical  sun 
as  its  image,  saluted  Surya,  the  Sun  God,  each  yellow 
morn  with  the  solemn  invocation:  "We  meditate  on 
the  glory  of  that  Divine  Being  who  has  produced  this 
universe;  may  He  enlighten  our  minds."     The  phy- 


50  Relative  Truths. 

sical  is  symbolic  of  the  soul  of  the  physical.  The  sun 
is  the  symbol  of  the  spiritual  essence  of  self-illumin- 
ating and  all-present  Light. 

All  breathing  beings  and  moving  bodies  rank  in  the 
cyclings  of  spheres,  and  this  cycling  is  more  enduring 
than  time  and  more  inclusive  than  space.  The 
cosmos  is  a  sum-total  in  which  rhythm  and  harmony 
develop  from  the  seemingly  discordant  and  contra- 
vibrant.  Science  teaches  that  manifested  nature, 
suns,  moons  and  stars  spring  from  homogeneous  mat- 
ter, developing  form,  size  and  orbit,  and  disintegrat- 
ing into  the  primal  undifferentiated  state,  when  uni- 
versal dissolution  sounds  the  death-knell  of  the  cos- 
mos. The  source  of  differentiation  is  spiritual  and 
intelligent.  Minutest  and  largest  combinations  of 
matter  are  outer  manifestations  of  souls.  Undifferen- 
tiated matter  is  one  in  essence  with  undifferentiated 
intelligence.  From  the  latter  all  finite  minds  de- 
velop, thus  establishing  the  identity  of  origin  and 
essence  of  mind  in  all  creatures.  Infinite  Mind, 
soul  of  all  intelligence,  cognizes  no  distinctions ; 
neither  does  it  think.  Some  philosophies  doubt 
this  on  the  grounds  that,  where  there  is  no  manifesta- 
tion of  thought,  there  can  be  no  intelligence. 

Men  are  anthropomorphic  even  in  so-called  unbi- 
ased reasoning.  They  would  measure  Infinite  Mind 
by  the  psychometric  standards  of  the  brain.  Self 
does  not  think,  for  nothing  exists  concerning  which  it 
should  think.  There  is  nothing  unknown  to  Self.  It 
does  not  think,  for  It  manifests  as  thought.  It  does 
not  think,  for  Its  essence  is  eternal  knowledge.     The 


Relative  Truths.  51 

stone  neither  thinks  nor  reasons;  neither  does  Infi- 
nite Mind.  There  is  a  profound  difference,  however, 
between  the  inability  of  a  stone  to  think  and  the 
thoughtlessness  of  the  Omniscient  One.  Thinking  is 
a  mode  of  activity,  and  all  modes  of  activity  suggest 
imperfection.  Why  should  the  Perfect  One  act? 
Activity  presupposes  desire.  Self  desires  nothing, 
for  Its  existence  includes  all.  Thinking  is,  again,  in 
the  highest  sense  imperfect,  because  what  is  thought 
has  not  been  absolutely  translated  into  consciousness. 
Consciousness  must  supersede  thought,  consciousness 
includes  all  that  the  mind  can  entertain,  ere  the  state 
of  unqualified  perfection  is  reached.  So  long  as  the 
unknown  exists,  the  mind  manifests.  In  the  realm 
of  the  knowable  thought  is ;  in  the  realm  of  the  Un- 
knowable, or  rather,  in  the  realm  of  All-Knowledge, 
thought  is  extinguished  by  Supreme  Wisdom. 

Reason  is  labyrinthian.  Unsatisfied  with  imme- 
diate truth  and  the  revelations  of  relative  knowledge, 
the  mind  asks  the  Why  of  things.  The  world  has 
ever  been  asking,  "Why  ?"  In  the  persistence  of  this 
question,  philosophy  had  birth.  The  Whence  of 
things,  science  has  imperfectly  answered  in  biology, 
geology  and  other  departments.  Science  has  guessed 
at  the  Whither  of  life  and  intelligence.  Whence  and 
Whither  are  less  difficult  than  the  Why.  The  Why 
includes  the  Whence  and  Whither.  But  the  Why  is 
above  the  cosmos,  which  is  controlled  by  the  Whence 
and  the  Whither.  These  questions,  however,  as  the 
Buddha  has  told  his  followers,  "belong  to  the  desert 
of  mere  opinion."    Arguments  after  arguments  have 


52  Kelative  Truths. 

been  proposed.  Systems  after  systems  of  philosophy 
have  swayed  the  minds  of  men,  and  have  lost  their 
sway.  Philosophy,  as  all  other  things,  changes  with 
the  changing  experience  of  Man.  It  is  more  perti- 
nent to  know  the  meaning  of  Self.  "When  that  Self 
is  known,  all  esle  is  known."  The  cause  of  the  uni- 
verse and  of  the  soul  are  both  past  analysis.  The 
Self  of  creatures  and  the  Self  of  the  cosmos  are  be- 
yond time,  space  and  causation.  Man  can  never 
know  the  Why  of  these,  for  the  mind,  conditioned  by 
nature,  cannot  rise  above  it,  nor  form  any  thesis  con- 
cerning the  ultimate  of  things.  Self  can  only  be  dis- 
cerned by  Self-realization.  The  Self  of  the  universe 
and  the  inner  Self  of  soul  must  become  one. 

Knowing  the  source  of  intelligence  as  infinite  in- 
telligence manifest  in  all  beings,  the  mind  must 
identify  itself  with  it.  It  must  realize  reality  in  the 
source  of  intelligence.  The  central  truth  concerning 
the  mind  is:  that  within  its  depths  exists  the  mine 
of  all  knowledge.  The  mind  is  a  conduit  into  which 
omniscience  flows.  When  it  passes  into  and  from  the 
conduit  it  is  finite  intelligence.  But  the  source  is 
the  eternal  essence.  Realized  in  consciousness,  this 
truth  is  Self-knowledge.  Conditioned  existence,  that 
is,  the  individual  soul,  is  the  conduit.  When  it  has 
expressed  the  entire  range  of  possibilities  latent 
within  its  re-birth-compelling  abyss,  the  conduit  is 
closed,  and  the  finite  condition  which  was  expressed 
through  it  is  absorbed  by  the  infilling  of  infinite  ex- 
istence and  knowledge.  As  it  is,  the  soul,  outwardly 
related  to  the  source  of  its  expression,  occupied  with 


Relative  Truths.  53 

the  outflow  of  intelligence,  fails  to  recognize  that  it 
is  omniscience  and  omniexistence  which  give  mani- 
festation to  the  soul.  When  certain  progress  is  at- 
tained, however,  the  soul  begins  to  understand  that 
the  inflow  of  intelligence,  the  principle  of  manifesta- 
tion is  the  important  factor,  without  which  the  phe- 
nomena of  life  in  the  strictest  sense,  are  non-existent. 
Less  value  is  accorded  the  external ;  value  and  reality 
are  viewed  solely  as  internal. 

In  the  pursuit  and  realization  of  Self,  the  soul 
views  its  existence  in  the  mirror  of  divine  knowl- 
edge ;  instead  of  seeing  finiteness,  it  perceives  a 
shadow  filling  all  space  and  time,  the  shadow  of  the 
infinite.  It  becomes  passive  to  outward  circumstance 
and  hears  the  inner  voice,  which  speaks  in  the  lan- 
guage of  symbol,  of  faith,  of  intuition  and  inspira- 
tion. In  following  that  voice,  the  soul  explores  its 
profoundest  depth.  Realization  comes  when  it 
emerges  from  the  mazes  of  limitation  and  ignorance, 
perfected  in  spiritual  discrimination  and  power.  The 
sage  controls  personality,  employing  it  in  the  service 
of  those  who  need  his  assistance.  Realization  is  con- 
trol of  the  mind  and  heart,  is  in  passing  the  line  of 
demarcation  between  conditioned  and  unconditioned 
intelligence. 

The  methods  of  generalization  in  philosophy  are 
products  of  the  Orient.  Western  thought  deals  with 
particulars  and  specifications.  The  religious  outlook 
of  both  the  Orient  and  the  Occident  has  been  in  keep- 
ing with  their  philosophies.  The  former,  in  contem- 
plating existence,  has  made  it  universal,  and  brought 


54  Relative  Truths. 

its  manifold  expression  into  one  synthesizing  unit; 
the  latter,  occupied  with  immediate  truth,  reasoning 
from  the  visible  and  concrete,  little  given  to  mysti- 
cism and  speculation,  has  emphasized  the  inclusive- 
ness  of  existence  in  its  visible  manifestations.  For 
this  reason  we  find  scarcely  any  practical  relation  of 
Western  peoples,  as  a  whole,  to  the  invisible  existence 
which  mysticism  and  esotericism  imply.  Oriental 
philosophy  has  bequeathed  to  the  Western  intellect 
its  conception  of  "planes  or  spheres  of  Being." 
Christianity  and  other  religions  which  have  found 
expression  in  Europe  and  America  adhere  to  the 
truth  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  but  the  practical 
bearing  of  Oriental  philosophy  explains  the  character 
and  the  abode  of  the  existence  of  those  who  have  gone 
before ;  not  alone  that,  it  broadens  its  scope  of  thought 
and  spiritual  vision  to  the  recognition  of  endless  ex- 
istence and  planes  of  experience,  both  below  and 
above  the  plane  of  human  expression.  The  difference 
between  these  views  manifests  in  differences  of  relig- 
ious belief.  Christianity  teaches  that  animals,  and 
forms  of  life  beneath  the  animal,  are  soulless,  that 
they  are  of  no  greater  consequence  in  the  general 
scheme  of  life  than  the  dust  under  our  feet.  The 
Vedantism  of  East  India  and  Buddhism  distinguish 
not  only  the  evolution  of  humanity,  but  of  all  life  and 
form.  The  minutest  microscopic  life  is  the  expres- 
sion of  unmanifested  divinity  and,  as  such,  its  evolu- 
tionary aim  is  identical  with  that  of  the  most  exalted 
being, — the  realization  of  the  perfection  within,  the 
realization  of  the  God  within.      Omnipresence  ex- 


Relative  Truths.  55 

eludes  the  reality  of  the  minutest  life  save  through 
the  Infinite.  The  God  must  manifest,  whether  po- 
tential in  the  lowest  or  highest  form.  "There  is  but 
one  Self  which  must  be  perceived  and  known."  The 
philosophers  of  the  Platonic  and  Socratic  schools 
were  pantheists  in  their  conception  of  the  cosmos, 
holding  to  the  belief  that,  if  an  atom  of  life  is 
sacred,  all  life  is  sacred.  They  not  only  accorded 
divinity  to  the  human  soul,  but  to  each  individual 
soul,  irrespective  of  the  form  it  inhabited,  whether 
it  was  vegetal,  mineral,  animal,  or  otherwise.  They 
recognized  but  one  absolute,  universally-immanent 
divine  presence. 

Had  Christianity  paused  to  reflect  upon  the  abso- 
lute significance  of  its  dogma  of  omnipresence,  the 
dogma  of  the  redemption  would  never  have  been 
formulated.  Where  only  one  identity  exists,  there  is 
no  degree  of  highness  or  lowness.  It  is  one  presence. 
The  divine  within  cannot  sin.  Conditioned  soul,  of 
course,  errs;  it  is  clothed  with  ignorance,  but  the 
redemption  of  soul  is  realized  through  individual 
effort,  never  through  the  gratuitous  sacrifice  of  a 
savior.  There  is  but  one  "Son  of  God."  He  is  resi- 
dent in  every  soul.  He  alone  can  redeem  the  sin 
and  falseness  of  fleeting  personality  by  reincarnating 
the  immortal  principle  of  personality.  Through  end- 
less experience  between  the  dualities  of  relative 
knowledge  and  ignorance,  misery  and  joy,  pleasure 
and  pain,  the  individual  grows  into  self-redeeming 
wisdom  and  discrimination  between  the  real  and  the 
unreal.    This  is  the  cross  which  individualized  exist- 


56  Kelative  Truths. 

ence  must  bear,  the  cross  of  repeated  lives  and  innu- 
merable experiences.  These  thoughts  suggest  others. 
If  all  life  is  sacred  and  of  divine  origin,  all  life  is 
immortal.  From  the  animal  expression  the  human 
developed.  Animal  life,  likewise  subject  to  evolu- 
tion, equally  progresses.  Dreaming  humanity  sleeps 
within  the  animal  soul.  Man,  too,  progresses.  Infi- 
nite distinction  of  life  and  fitness  exists  in  the  human 
order.  The  potential  god  seeks  expression  in  the  evo- 
lution of  man.    The  tide  of  life  is  unthinkable. 

Philosophers  at  variance  with  these  truths  present 
the  argument  that  animals  have  no  souls,  because 
they  do  not  possess  the  rational  instinct ;  in  this,  they 
say,  lies  the  difference  between  the  human  and  animal 
species.  If  intelligence  is  present  in  the  universe  it 
is  present  everywhere.  The  only  difference  is  in  the 
degree  of  expression.  Human  beings  partake  of  this 
intelligence  in  a  degree ;  but  they  by  no  means  absorb 
all  degrees.  The  human  race  expresses  but  a  very 
small  part  of  universal  intelligence.  What  is  reason  ? 
What  does  rational  instinct  mean  ? 

Instinctive  life  has  much  greater  influence  and 
area  of  expression  in  human  life  than  is  imagined. 
The  human  body  has  developed  through  instinctive 
life  and  expression.  Every  motion  of  the  body  is 
directly  or  indirectly  instinctive.  Part  of  mental  life 
is  also  instinctive.  Instinct  is  only  involved  reason, 
or  reason  automatically  expressed.  When  the  mind 
is  brought  in  relation  to  new  experience,  new  grooves 
are  made  in  the  brain.  The  mind  recognizes,  studies 
and,  finally,  understands  it.     The  next  occasion,  the 


Relative  Truths.  57 

mind  readily  classifies  the  fact.  As  this  knowledge 
is  repeated,  it  is  better  established.  Finally,  what,  in 
the  beginning,  required  time  and  thought,  is  instan- 
taneously, automatically  performed.  Conscious  men- 
tality is  no  longer  associated  with  the  performance. 
It  is  now  under  the  action  of  the  subconscious  mind. 
In  the  first  fingering  of  keys  and  reading  of  notes, 
the  pianist  has  considerable  trouble.  When  he  has 
become  perfect  he  may  converse  while  playing  diffi- 
cult selections.  This  is  because  the  playing,  in 
greater  part,  has  become  automatized.  Attentive 
states  of  consciousness,  employed  in  the  study  of  fin- 
gering and  reading  of  notes,  have  been  translated  into 
subconsciousness.  In  other  words,  previous  rational 
acts  have  become  instinctive.  Thus  instinct  is  reason 
inverted.  The  difference  between  human  and  animal 
intelligence  is  alone  in  the  fact  that  animals  and 
lower  forms  of  existence  apply  reason  to  physical  re- 
quirements and  contingencies,  while  man  applies  rea- 
son to  broader  circumstances  of  life  and  thought. 
The  difference  in  expression  is  appreciable,  drawing 
a  distinct  line  of  demarcation  between  human  and 
animal  life,  but  it  is  only  a  difference  in  degree,  not 
difference  in  essence. 

Philology  often  assists  philosophy.  In  a  word  lies 
the  distinction  between  the  human  and  animal  mind. 
The  word  "man"  is  derived  from  the  Sanscrit  root- 
verb  "man,"  meaning  "to  think."  Animals  follow 
the  reflex  line  of  conscious  activity.  They  apply 
thought  without  any  causal  connection  between  them- 
selves and  the  condition  perceived.     Man  is  the  con- 


58  Relative  Truths. 

scious  thinker.  He  discriminates  between  given  cir- 
cumstances and  objects;  he  chooses,  judges,  com- 
pares ;  he  determines,  considers,  and,  particularly,  he 
is  self-conscious.  The  animal  is  entirely  reflex,  pas- 
sive, receptive ;  the  reason  of  man  is  positive,  active, 
anticipant.  He  is  possessed  of  rational  memory ;  the 
animal,  of  instinctive  memory.  The  animal  is  gen- 
eric in  consciousness ;  man,  individual. 

Man  is  an  undetached  spark  of  that  Spiritual  Sun 
whose  action  sustains  the  life  and  motion  of  the  uni- 
verse. To  the  limited  vision  of  man  the  lower  orders 
are  engulfed  in  darkness,  but  the  nether  is  the  other 
pole  of  conscious  perception.  He  fails  to  see  the 
light  shining  at  one  extremity,  because  of  the  exceed- 
ing brilliance  of  the  light  at  another  extremity.  Lo- 
calized perception  must  extend  beyond  the  local. 
When  it  considers  and  embraces  all,  it  is  universal. 
True  perception  can  be  obtained  when  the  soul  is 
aware  of  the  universality  of  That  Presence  which 
sustains  all  within  Its  intelligence-fraught  life. 

Conceive  one  vast  ocean  of  light.  Wherever  the 
vision  is  directed,  there  is  light.  Above,  below,  and 
on  all  sides,  there  is  light,  endless  in  shade  and  bril- 
liance. Consider  mind,  heart,  consciousness,  person- 
ality as  formed  from  and  existing  through  that  light. 
Let  even  the  idea  of  light  be  merged  into  the  sea  of 
light.  The  soul  then  realizes  nothing  but  light.  In 
that  moment  of  spiritual  illumination,  the  universe 
has  vanished.  The  visible  and  numberless  objects  of 
manifestation  lose  life  and  form,  merging  in  the 
omnipresence  where  form  is  unknown;  where  reigns 


Relative  Truths.  59 

the  Unthinkable  Mind.  This  concentration  leads  to 
purity  and  truth  of  vision.  It  is  symbolic  of  the  mys- 
tic union  of  the  finite  with  the  Infinite  Self. 

In  the  development  of  universal  concepts  and  cor- 
responding mystic  and  emotional  states,  no  psycho- 
logical suicide  is  committed,  in  which  personality  is 
martyred  in  the  cause  of  superconscious  perception. 
The  meaning  of  the  personal  is  in  the  superpersonal. 
Omnipresent  divinity  is  the  essence  of  the  soul.  In 
realizing  its  essence  the  soul  realizes  the  true  Self, 
of  which  personality  is  an  ephemeral  shadow. 

Union  with  universal  intelligence  is  often  con- 
strued as  the  death  of  individual  intelligence;  but 
religion  says  that  the  original  state  from  which  man 
evolved  was  perfect.  It  teaches  that  the  aim  of  life 
is  to  return  to  that  initial  state.  Spiritual  intelli- 
gence is  the  background  and  working  force  of  all 
knowledge.  Instead  of  tediously  laboring  to  acquire 
relative  knowledge,  religion  admonishes  the  soul  to 
seek  that  spiritual  intelligence  which  is  infused  into 
the  soul  by  the  Infinite  Mind,  the  Self,  Dispenser  of 
all  wisdom  and  power. 

The  origin  of  things  is  superior  to  their  highest 
evolutionary  development ;  the  latter  cannot  last,  for, 
by  disintegration  and  involution,  it  returns  to  the 
causal,  original  state.  Man  has  developed  from  a 
condition  greater  than  the  present.  The  unmani- 
fested  includes  both  the  potential  and  manifested. 
The  unmanifested  stands  in  relation  to  the  mani- 
fested as  the  definite  to  the  indefinite.  The  causal 
state   of  man   is    definite.      The   manifested    state, 


'60  Relative  Truths. 

subject  to  change  and  disintegration,  is  indefinite. 
In  the  unmanifested  there  is  infinite  potentiality 
which  the  manifested  can  never  express.  The  essence 
of  the  soul  is  greater  than  its  expression.  Expression 
can  never  be  absolute ;  the  inner  essence  of  the  soul  is 
absolute.  States  of  expression  are  always  relatively 
imperfect.  Man  is  a  counterfeit  of  his  divinity. 
No  matter  how  complete  expression  is,  it  is  bound 
by  time  and  form,  and  the  essence  of  the  soul  is  form- 
less and  eternal. 

There  can  only  be  a  constant  amelioration  of  the 
radically  imperfect.  Man,  identified  with  this  im- 
perfect existence,  can  never  realize  the  essence  of  his 
nature  within  its  limitation.  He  must  consider  Self 
as  the  sole  truth  and  deny  the  bondage  of  imperfect 
existence.  However  alluring  and  seemingly  real, 
there  is  no  truth,  nor  reality  apart  from  the  indwell- 
ing Spirit.  The  sage,  truly  appreciating  the  evan- 
escence of  all  things,  exclaims  with  Solomon:  "Van- 
ity of  vanities.    All  is  vanity  and  vexation  of  Spirit." 

Man  meets  with  varied  emotional  experiences,  but 
emotional  fervor  passes.  The  thirsty  traveller  on  the 
desert  sees  sparkling  streams  and  wooded  lands.  It 
is  a  mirage.  He  must  have  the  water  of  life  for 
which  he  is  famishing.  Man  wanders  through  the 
desert  of  life,  deluded  with  mirages.  He  colors  them 
with  the  magic  of  a  great  desire,  but  the  mirages  of 
life  are  as  evanescent  as  desert  mirages.  They  further 
sorrow  and  renew  the  fever  of  desire.  Life  is  a  pro- 
tracted dream  in  which  we  imagine  ourselves  now 
possessed  of  wealth,  power,  fame  and  numerous  sense 


Kelative  Truths.  61 

enjoyments,  then  afflicted  with  want,  poverty,  misery 
and  physical  discomfort.  When  the  day  of  spiritual 
discrimination  dawns,  and  the  morning  sun  of  spir- 
itual intelligence  rises,  this  dreaming  will  cease. 
The  soul  will  awaken  with  knowledge  of  its  true 
nature,  which  is  eternal,  unconditioned  Godhead. 

Human  nature  is  childlike,  ever  in  a  state  of  want. 
To  keep  the  child  from  crying,  its  parents  give  it  what 
it  wishes.  After  a  short  time  the  ardently  desired 
object  lies  in  some  corner,  mutilated  and  unrecogniz- 
able. Often  the  child  wants  something  dangerous  to 
handle,  gets  it,  and  is  hurt.  The  soul  is  like  a  child. 
It  desires  object  after  object.  Many  of  the  things  the 
soul  desired  in  the  past  are  now  cast  aside  and  for- 
gotten. Men  constantly  consign  the  realizations  of 
desire  into  the  garret  of  life.  They  continue  and 
continue  to  desire  and  the  curse  of  desire  is  the  neces- 
sity for  its  realization.  Life  after  life  we  reap  the 
fruits  of  desire,  and  as  long  as  desire  continues  life 
also  continues.  Often  we  wish  for  things  which  we 
think  will  please  us,  but  we  mistake  the  nature  of 
the  thing  desired,  and  the  fruit  is  pain.  To  rid  him- 
self of  the  tyranny  of  desire  over  reason,  Socrates 
was  wont  to  pass  the  shops  in  Athens  and  say  to  his 
followers :  "Behold !  how  many  things  there  are  of 
which  man  has  no  need."  He  spoke  thus,  not  alone 
of  physical  good,  but  of  the  objects  of  emotion  and 
passion. 

All  conditions  of  life  are  born  of  desire.  Desire, 
charmed  with  the  things  it  observes,  clasps  them  to 
its  heart.     In  that  embrace  the  mind  is  born  a  slave. 


62  Kelative  Truths. 

This  birth  is  endlessly  recurrent  so  that  the  mind  is 
slave  to  innumerable  conditions.  Through  uncon- 
trolled desire  the  soul  is  shorn  of  its  inner  greatness 
and  power.  Desire  is  often  palliated  through  the 
idealization  of  its  object.  It  is  criticized  in  its  pur- 
poses. When  it  has  possession  as  its  end  it  is  un- 
worthy. Self-knowledge  and  the  perfection  which  it 
involves  is  alone  worthy.  There  are  desires  "to  be," 
and  they  are  the  desires  of  the  gods.  Where  material 
desire  manifests,  there  is  little  room  for  spiritual  evo- 
lution. "Where  desire  is,  there  is  no  room  for 
Kama."  One  cannot  serve  both  God  and  Mammon. 
Desire  reaches  perfection  when  it  ceases  its  material 
direction  and  purpose  and  centres  on  the  development 
of  mind,  heart,  and  soul.  This  desire  perfects  char- 
acter. It  is  desire  without  its  scarlet  color;  desire 
clad  in  the  purity  of  truth.  It  is  the  inversion  of 
desire  which  is  alone  criticizable.  Man  must  have 
desires.  Desire  is  growth,  but  only  desires  having 
the  realization  of  the  best  within  as  their  goal. 

The  body  is  the  principle  of  which  the  soul  seems 
most  cognizant,  yet  it  is  not  the  body  but  the  "desire 
self"  which  conditions  the  wants  of  the  body.  The 
body  is  only  an  instrument.  Desire  is  an  enlivening 
force,  propelling  the  body,  a  principle  through  which 
consciousness  manifests  on  the  physical  plane.  All 
physical  sensation  as  hunger,  thirst,  and  other  physi- 
cal needs  belong  to  this  principle ;  also  all  forms  of 
emotions  as  hatred,  love,  and  the  many  manifold 
feelings,  which  sway  the  soul.  Sensations  and  emo- 
tions do  not,  in  strictest  reality,  belong  to  the  mental 


Eelative  Truths.  G3 

realm.  The  mind  is  a  principle  through  which  con- 
sciousness manifests  on  the  plane  of  thought.  These 
fine  distinctions  between  planes  of  thought  and  sensa- 
tion and  emotion  must  be  made.  Esotericism  insists 
on  them,  and  teaches  that  both  the  principle  of  desire 
and  that  of  mind  are  possessed  of  instruments  and 
bodies.  Desire  and  its  instrument  must  not  be  con- 
fused with  consciousness.  Desire  is  only  a  force  pos- 
sessed of  a  desire  body.  The  mind  is  only  a  princi- 
ple possessed  of  force  and  a  mental  body.  The  phy- 
sical body  is  only  a  form  developed  from  the  principle 
of  physical  force.  It  is  consciousness  alone  which 
exists,  manifesting  through  the  principles  of  mind 
and  desire,  and  reaches  the  planes  of  expression  of 
mind  and  desire  through  the  instrumentality  of  re- 
spective bodies. 

The  desire  body  is  composed  of  finer  particles  of 
matter  than  the  physical  body,  and  the  mental  body 
of  still  rarer  matter.  This  desire  body  is  subject  to 
change  and  disintegration,  just  as  the  physical  instru- 
ment. In  each  incarnation,  the  desire  body  is  re- 
formed, even  as  the  general  status  of  personality  is 
changed.  The  reason  is  that  desire  changes  in  de- 
gree of  expression.  It  is  subject  to  growth.  As  the 
individual  clothes  himself  in  different  garments  as 
he  passes  through  infancy,  youth  and  manhood,  so,  in 
the  evolutionary  course,  the  individual  clothes  him- 
self in  various  bodies  accordingly  as  consciousness 
has  manifested  in  the  life  past.  The  principle  of 
desire,  purified  and  directed  to  higher  ideals,  ex- 
presses itself  in  a  higher  form.    And  the  converse  13 


64  Relative  Truths. 

true.  The  soul  may  lapse  into  previous  conditions, 
and  find  itself  in  a  coarser  physical  body,  the  result 
of  the  coarsening  the  desire  body  has  undergone. 
Each  of  the  bodies  is  influenced  by  the  condition  of 
the  others.  If  the  mentality  is  imperfectly  educated, 
desire  has  greater  scope.  If  the  mind  is  perfectly 
balanced,  desire  has  less  influence.  If  the  health  of 
the  body  is  maintained,  both  the  desire  and  mental 
bodies  are  unobstructed  in  relation  to  physical  expres- 
sion. The  influence  of  desire  in  changing  physical 
vibrations  is  noticed  in  life.  If  one  who  has  lived  the 
spiritual  or  philosophical  life  falls  prey  to  sense  se- 
ductions, his  facial  expression  will  change.  That 
limpidness  of  eye,  grace  of  carriage,  and  loftiness  of 
countenance  vanishes;  in  its  place  are  coarseness  of 
features  and  expression.  The  body  is  under  the  im- 
mediate formative  influence  of  the  desire-body.  In 
this  sense,  too  much  stress  cannot  be  placed  on  the 
purification  of  desire,  its  refinement  and  relation  to 
high  ideals.  When  desire  has  become  artistic  in  mani- 
festation, its  coarseness  and  putrescence  vanishes  and, 
instead  of  coarseness,  it  will  give  the  body  artistic 
polish,  refinement  of  lineament  and  bodily  deport- 
ment. True  refinement  of  desire  expresses  itself 
when  the  mind  sheds  its  discriminating  influence 
over  ideals  of  desire.  Then  passion  is  transposed 
into  artistic  and  higher  emotional  feeling.  In  coarser 
phases  of  manifestation,  feeling  is  ephemeral  and 
purely  instinctive.  It  is  the  sudden  effervescence  and 
alienation  of  feeling.  This  is  the  action  of  mere 
physical  desires.    In  the  development  and  the  special- 


Relative  Truths.  65 

ization  of  its  activity,  feeling  is  more  continuous  and 
differs  widely  from  mere  sensuousness.  Love  and 
passion  arouse  distinct  sets  of  emotion.  In  love,  re- 
finement and  high  ideals  translate  animal  tendencies 
into  lofty  emotional  and  spiritual  tendencies.  Pas- 
sion has  no  stable  qualities,  and  is  short-lived.  The 
principle  of  desire  is  working  on  a  low  basis  of  ex- 
pression. The  evolution  of  feeling  brings  desire  into 
purer  realms ;  it  is  the  basis  of  conjugal  love. 

The  real  seat  of  all  sensation  is  the  desire  body. 
Psychology  says  the  same  thing.  In  spiritual  philos- 
ophy, psychology  has  greater  importance  than  physi- 
ology, because  the  principles  of  the  former  determine 
the  qualities  and  activities  of  the  physical  body. 

Desire  changes  and  passes.  Firmly  established  is 
the  mind  which  correlates  the  experiences  of  desire 
into  the  appreciation  of  right  and  wrong.  Mind  and 
desire  compose  personality.  The  spiritual  principle 
has  relation,  but  only  through  the  purification  of  both 
mind  and  desire.  Personality  is  the  synthesis  of 
sensations,  emotions  and  thoughts.  It  is  the  tem- 
poral manifestation  of  individuality.  Personality  is 
made  of  the  conscious  activities  of  earth  life.  Indi- 
viduality, the  individualized  undetached  spark  of 
spiritual  intelligence,  is  the  absorbing  essence  of  per- 
sonality. As  the  personality  is  the  same,  though  un- 
dergoing the  innumerable  experiences  of  life,  as  it  is 
the  same,  though  in  different  places  and  under  differ- 
ent surroundings,  so  the  individual,  author  of  per- 
sonality, is  the  same,  though  experiencing  repeated 
births  and  various  evolutionary  stages. 


66  Relative  Truths. 

It  is  written  in  "The  Voice  of  the  Silence" :  "Have 
perseverance  as  one  who  doth  for  evermore  endure. 
Thy  shadows  (personalities)  live  and  vanish;  that 
which  in  thee  shall  live  for  ever,  that  which  in  thee 
knows,  for  it  is  knowledge,  is  not  of  fleeting  life;  it 
is  the  man  that  was,  that  is,  and  will  be,  for  whom 
the  hour  shall  never  strike."  Personality  is  a  myth, 
a  fleeting  shadow,  an  unreality,  a  thing  which  passes. 
Individuality  never  passes,  is  free  from  limitations. 
The  growth  and  expansion  of  individuality  is  the 
aim  of  evolutionary  progress.  Certainly,  nature, 
with  all  the  indefinite  development  of  the  past,  all 
the  evolving  influences  of  the  present,  is  not  busied 
with  transiency,  and  personality  is  transient.  The 
source  of  personality  is  individuality.  Through  the 
experiences  of  numberless  personalities  this  individu- 
ality progresses  in  manifestation.  Evolution  has  im- 
portance and  significance  in  this  light.  The  end  of 
nature  is  to  reveal  the  nature  of  the  soul,  which  is  "the 
secret  of  all  wisdom  and  the  soul  of  all  knowledge." 
This  assurance  is  personalized  in  the  wonderful  char- 
acters, whose  will  and  command  have  steered  the 
course  of  civilization  into  progressive  channels.  These 
characters  have  realized  Self.  They  are  the  radiant 
sons  of  light  who  come  as  Sri  Krishna  says:  "when 
viciousness  is  prevalent  and  good  principles  need 
invigoration." 

The  individual  is  the  eternal  thinker,  apart  from 
the  physical,  uncontrolled  by  any  force,  free,  ever 
blissful,  and  all  perfect.  Though  pure  and  free,  the 
individual  is  not  at  oneness  with  the  Infinite  of 


Kelatne  Truths.  67 

which  it  is  a  ray.  The  object  of  evolution  is  the 
union  of  the  individual  ray  with  the  ocean  of  endless 
light.  At  each  incarnation,  the  individual  radiates 
a  portion  of  its  substance  which  becomes  a  separate 
being,  a  personality.  The  personality  finds  itself 
within  the  possibilities  of  a  respective  epoch,  and 
has  the  responsibility  of  reaping  experience  con- 
ducive to  its  education.  The  goal  of  human  birth  is 
enrichment  of  personality,  the  broadening  of  vision 
and  activity  of  the  lower,  so  that  the  higher  may 
manifest. 

Man  is  like  a  traveller  in  a  new  land.  Unac- 
quainted with  the  topography  of  the  country,  the  ex- 
plorer often  experiences  sad  mishaps.  Frequently 
he  meets  with  dire  misfortune.  But  with  hardship 
and  struggle  the  land  is  explored,  and  through  this 
advantages  are  open  to  newcomers.  The  difficulty 
and  the  mistakes  have  been  a  part  of  the  final  tri- 
umph, for  experience  and  knowledge  developed  with 
trial  and  failing.  Where  one  would  have  avoided 
mistake,  another  would  have  failed.  Some  one  must 
err,  and  others  profit  by  the  experience.  In  the  great 
wilderness  of  human  life,  the  soul  is  ever  confronted 
with  the  unknown.  Mistakes  are  largely  the  result 
of  inexperience,  of  weakness  and  of  difficulty  of 
progress.  Most  of  the  infringements  of  moral  law 
are  not  through  viciousness,  and,  therefore,  retribu- 
tion is  rather  in  ratio  to  knowledge  of  right  and 
wrong,  than  to  the  fulness  of  the  error. 

Man  is  on  the  ascending  path  to  the  realization  of 
his  nature.     The  individual  can  accelerate  natural 


G8  Relative  Truths. 

evolution  by  directing  consciousness  to  high  purpose. 
He  is  not  bound  to  follow  in  the  wake  of  the  average. 
Filled  with  the  burning  desire  to  sound  the  depths 
of  the  soul,  filled  with  the  desire  to  break  the  barriers 
of  material  imperfection  and  of  ignorance,  the  soul 
progresses  by  leaps  and  bounds. 

In  the  fulness  of  desire  is  the  perfection  of  knowl- 
edge, for  desire  related  to  the  ideal  of  Self-knowledge 
opens  the  doorway  to  spiritual  truth  and  conscious- 


MAN   AND   HIS    SHADOW. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


MAN    AND    HIS    SHADOW. 


Who  is  the  real  man  1  It  is  he  who  feels  through 
the  senses,  perceives  through  the  mind,  and  discrim- 
inates through  the  intellect.  The  real  man  is  the 
experiencer,  developing  in  knowledge  and  expression 
through  changing  states  of  existence.  The  real  man 
is  neither  the  body,  nor  mind,  but  the  soul,  utilizing 
these  only  as  instruments  to  relate  it  to  spheres  of 
mental  and  physical  experience. 

Man  is  the  creator,  the  sustaining  force,  and  the 
dissolver  of  his  own  world,  and  the  world  of  each  is 
widely  different  form  the  world  of  another.  Each 
individual  is  isolated  from  the  rest  of  life,  for  each 
life  has  its  separate  course,  its  own  path  to  make, 
its  individual  destiny,  and  its  particular  mode  of 
expression.  Though  divergent  in  manifestation, 
every  being  has  the  same  origin  and  ultimate  unity 
as  all  others. 

Truly,  each  man  is  a  vessel,  self-manned  and  self- 
propelled,  afloat  on  the  shoreless  ocean  of  existence. 
Each  soul  is  the  pilot  of  its  own  expression ;  each  in- 
dividual fate  the  pathway  of  a  single  vessel.  Men 
are  "ships  that  pass  in  the  night."  They  meet;  their 
destinies  may  cross;  their  interests  blend,  but  each 
person  is  to  himself.    None  can  help ;  none  can  save. 


72  Man  and  His  Shadow. 

The  individual  is  his  own  helper  and  his  own  savior. 
Now  and  then  the  path  of  two  seem  to  blend  into  a 
single  way.  The  line  of  distinction,  however,  is 
dreadfully  separate. 

What  appears  as  external  is  really  internal.  What 
appears  as  without  is  the  circling  of  the  vibrations 
within.  Each  person  is  a  potential  god.  The  Self 
of  each  individual  is  the  Self  of  all  men,  gods  and 
breathing  beings.  Each  is  the  teacher  and  student 
of  his  individual  existence.  Each  soul  is  its  problem- 
maker  and  problem-solver.  The  thought  of  this  sep- 
arateness  is  awesome.  Great  teachers,  emphasizing 
this  separateness,  have  said :  "The  wise  are  only  great 
preachers.  You  yourselves  must  make  an  effort." 
Saviors  incarnate  give  spiritual  motive-force,  but  the 
individual  soul  must  keep  the  divine  spark  alive  with 
the  breath  of  spiritual  resolution.  The  soul  must 
save  and  redeem  itself  from  the  curse  of  superstition 
and  the  thralldom  of  ignorance.  Each  is  free  to  pur- 
sue whatever  course  is  desired.  It  is  the  privilege  of 
the  soul  to  express  freedom  of  thought  and  expres- 
sion. The  Law,  however,  is  a  part  of  the  soul's 
nature,  and  follows  every  expression,  whether  high 
or  low,  good  or  evil.  The  sages  who  have  transmitted 
their  knowledge  to  the  race  climbed  the  upward  path 
in  the  solitude  of  individual  effort.  The  struggle  for, 
and  the  experience  of  realization  is  individual. 

Alien  in  nature,  man  traverses  the  cycle  of  time 
with  the  veil  of  illusion  covering  true  perception.  In 
his  spiritual  unf oldment  man  passes  through  stages  of 
doubt.       Materialism    points    body  ward,    idealism, 


Man  and  His  Shadow.  73 

mindward.  Moments  come  when  both  materialism 
and  idealism  prove  insufficient,  and  the  soul  merges 
into  agnosticism.  Every  soul  of  spiritual  develop- 
ment has  passed  through  these  stages  into  a  broader 
outlook  on  life  where  differences  consistently  meet 
and  their  divergent  qualities  unite  through  the  dis- 
crimination of  spirit.  Much  depends  on  the  truth 
that  there  is  no  limit  to  perception  and  understand- 
ing; that  each  effort  to  perceive  substantial  values  of 
life  is  followed  by  gain.  No  one  can  knock  at  the 
door  of  life  without  being  answered.  The  answer 
may  come  as  a  mystical  assurance  that  the  soul  is 
at  union  with  the  life  and  reality  behind  universal 
expression.  It  may  come  as  intuitive  solutions  in 
the  philosophical  field. 

An  emotion  presupposes  the  existence  of  its  object. 
It  is  unreasonable  that  the  soul  could  relate  its  desire 
and  effort  to  the  non-existent.  The  soul  could  not  con- 
ceive Self  unless  It  were.  Reason  is  conditioned  by 
sense  experience.  Religion,  Self  -  knowledge  and 
spiritual  consciousness  are  beyond  the  senses  and  the 
mind.  The  highest  truth  could  not  be,  were  it  com- 
prehensible to  sense-nourished  reason.  When  the 
soul  comes  face  to  face  with  the  essence  of  its  nature, 
it  does  not  reason,  for  it  directly  perceives.  There 
is  never  argument  concerning  the  existence  and  real- 
ity of  visible  and  tangible  objects.  The  sage  is  cog- 
nizant of  spiritual  facts  even  more  than  men  are  of 
their  bodily  surroundings.  Realization  has  little  to 
do  with  the  intellectual  perception  of  truth.  The 
soul  can  never  be  satisfied  until,  as  the  Vedas  say,  it 


7-i  Man  and  His  Shadow. 

"sees,  hears,  perceives  and  knows  that  Self."  Those 
who  arrive  at  this  vision  of  truth  are  of  few  words. 
They  do  not  convince  by  argument,  but  impart  their 
knowledge  as  a  friend  imparts  a  flower.  Religion  is 
a  live  force.  A  great  teacher,  who  aroused  Europe 
and  America  with  his  masterly  eloquence,  said  that  if 
he  had  religion,  spiritual  insight  and  knowledge,  it 
was  due  to  one,  so  inspired  with  spiritual  vision  and 
truth,  that  his  very  presence  radiated  divine  insight. 
Everything  has  its  aura.  Everything  is  permeated 
with  its  life-force.  This  life-force  has  influence  and 
color.  Clairvoyantly  it  can  be  seen.  The  existence 
and  condition  of  auras  explain  sudden  and  peculiar 
attachments  and  aversions.  The  aura  of  a  god-like 
character  vibrates  with  tremendous  influence,  for  his 
personality  is  illuminated  with  greatest  spiritual 
knowledge  and  feeling.  Contact  with  such  a  char- 
acter inspires  spirituality.  The  truth  of  his  words 
is  self-evident.  His  enthusiasm  is  contagious.  This 
explains  the  authoritive  influence  of  religious  teach- 
ers. Their  personality  is  so  rich  that  all  who  come 
into  their  presence  are  devoted  to  them.  The  reason  is 
that  they  touch  the  soul.  They  awaken  deepest  im- 
pulses and  purest  emotions.  As  the  sensuous  emo- 
tions cannot  be  compared  with  the  dull  motions  of 
material  forces,  so  spiritual  emotions  are  not  com- 
parable with  the  insentience  of  sensuous  emotions. 
"In  this  world  of  insentience  he  who  sees  that  One 
Who  is  the  vivifying  light  of  all,  unto  him  comes 
eternal  peace,  unto  none  else,  unto  none  else."  That 
One  is  the  Soul  of  all  souls.     That  One  is  the  Self, 


Man  and  His  Shadow.  75 

the  truly  Immortal,   Whom  the  gods  worship  and 
Whom  all  knowers  of  Self  adore. 

One  of  the  fruits  of  spiritual  worthiness  is  that 
through  the  Law  the  soul  is  granted  the  realization  of 
desires  consistent  with  true  welfare.  All  things  are 
added  to  those  who  strive.  The  important  attitude  in 
the  materialization  of  desire  is  patience.  Nothing 
can  be  accomplished  by  impatience  and  worry.  Nerv- 
ousness is  the  result  of  fretfulness  and  is,  in  turn,  the 
origin  of  functional  disorders.  Nervousness  is  de- 
structive to  the  realization  of  any  purpose,  for  it  dis- 
turbs harmony  of  mind,  a  necessary  condition  for 
concentration.  Mental  activity  is  directly  or  indi- 
rectly associated  with  the  action  of  the  nerve  system. 
If  the  nerve  be  disturbed,  the  consequence  is  mental 
indecision  and  emotional  uncertainty.  No  person  can 
think  or  work  to  the  best  advantage  under  nerve  pres- 
sure. Best  results  are  forthcoming  only  when  the 
physical  is  in  proper  vibration.  The  seeker  after 
truth  must  have  perfect  control  over  the  physical, 
avoiding  anything  conducive  to  nervousness.  He 
should  abstain  from  associations  causing  mental  or 
spiritual  inharmony,  nervous  irritation,  or  morbid- 
ness. Associations  have  great  influence  through  their 
vibrations.  Suggestion  through  expression  and  con- 
duct awakens  the  imitative  impulse. 

There  is  nothing  more  efficacious  in  the  riddance  of 
nervousness  than  concentration.  Apart  from  intri- 
cate psychological  definitions,  concentration  is  placid- 
ity of  temper,  harmony  of  thought,  patience  in  cir- 
cumstances, spiritual -mindedness  and  other  qualities 


76  Man  and  His  Shadow. 

which  allow  even  expression  of  the  mind  in  its  service 
to  the  soul.  The  mind  depends  on  the  body ;  the  body, 
on  the  mind.  Nervous  prostration  is  largely  due  to 
inharmonious  thought  and  inverted  emotions.  "Worry 
is  the  disease  of  the  age.  If  the  soul  is  in  true  rela- 
tion to  Self,  nothing  can  harm  the  body.  The  bird  of 
the  air  is  supported  by  the  providence  of  Self.  It  is 
the  duty  of  a  father  to  provide  for  his  children.  It  is 
the  nature  of  Self  to  meet  the  needs  of  those  who  are 
mindful  of  Self.  The  most  beautiful  feature  in  spir- 
itual knowledge  is  the  confidence  it  gives  and  encour- 
ages. Trust,  implicit  and  never-failing,  is  character- 
istic of  the  spiritually  awakened.  Things  come  to 
them  because  of  their  unquestioning  trust.  The  sage 
experiences  the  beneficent  results  of  such  trust  in  its 
psychic  connection.  Trust  is  passive  desire,  most 
potent  of  all  desires. 

The  spiritually  informed  appreciate  the  usefulness 
of  non-resistance.  Struggling  with  conditions  is  often 
a  waste  of  energy.  Resistance  frequently  increases 
unpleasantness.  Discrimination  imparts  that  spirit 
of  resignation  which  is  not  self-pity  in  disguise,  but 
stalwart  resignation.  Many  allege  that  non-resistance 
to  evil  and  resignation  weaken  the  soul,  unfiting  it  in 
the  battle  of  life,  but  history  attests  the  contrary. 
The  greatest  persons  of  all  times  possess  these  quali- 
ties. The  practical  application  of  non-resistance  is 
exemplified  in  the  jiu-jitsu  of  the  Japanese.  The 
antagonist  wastes  his  strength  in  futile  effort,  while 
his  opponent  is  passive,  interested  only  in  warding  off 
blows.     The  psychological  moment  arrives  when  the 


Man  and  His  Shadow.  77 

antagonist,  weakened  by  his  own  effort,  is  overcome. 
Resignation  becomes  the  mightiest  of  men.  If  great 
generals  were  despondant  over  losses,  their  successes 
would  be  few.  They  are  resigned  to  the  tide  of  for- 
tune and  await  the  odds  of  opportunity.  The  busi- 
ness man  has  no  time  for  useless  worry;  he  is  too 
busy  ameliorating  conditions.  These  qualities,  spir- 
itually translated,  have  deeper  meaning  and  char- 
acter. They  render  the  soul  passive  to  harmful  ma- 
terial conditions  and  give  it  stamina  in  the  hour  of 
great  struggle.  ^Non-resistance  and  resignation  are 
positive  factors  in  the  realization  of  moral  and  spir- 
itual values- 
Realization  is  for  the  strong  in  character,  the  coura- 
geous of  heart;  it  is  for  those  who  will  and  do.  A 
cheerful  mind  is  necessary  in  the  struggle,  for  the 
mind,  fortified  with  cheerfulness,  does  not  lose  the 
vision  of  its  purpose,  whenever  obstruction  intervenes. 
There  is  a  common  sense  point  of  view  in  every  affair, 
whether  it  be  religious,  philosophical,  commercial,  or 
domestic.  Sane  attitudes  must  be  had  with  regard  to 
religion.  Religion  must  change  its  commonly  ac- 
cepted understanding  and  come  into  the  daylight  of 
intelligence.  It  must  rid  itself  of  the  dogmatic  idea 
of  punishment,  and  teach  that  all  punishment  is  from 
within.  It  must  change  the  attitude  in  prayer.  There 
is  no  god  who  will  stop  the  wheel  of  the  Law  in  an- 
swer to  prayer.  Prayers  are  generally  selfish.  Prayer 
should  have  no  other  motive  nor  aim  than  knowledge, 
light,  sympathy  and  strength.  Those  prayers  are 
alone  worthy  prayers ;  others  are  the  cries  of  children 


78  Man  and  His  Shadow. 

who  do  not  know  what  is  best  to  desire.  Men  are  not 
the  impartial  judges  of  their  needs.  Selfishness  blinds 
the  vision.  The  Spirit  provides  for  Its  devotees. 
The  sage  understands  the  principle  of  the  command : 
"Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  all  things 
shall  be  added  unto  you."  First  seek  the  higher,  and 
the  lower  will  naturally  and  plentifully  follow. 

The  cause  of  selfishness  is  a  false  view  of  the  es- 
sential reality  of  the  individual  soul.  The  fleeting 
personality  receives  undivided  attention;  reality  is 
accredited  to  it,  when  that  quality  is  only  identified 
with  the  Self  within.  In  this  misconception  misery 
and  ignorance  develop.  In  this  misconception  sense 
attachment  and  its  bondage  control  the  mind.  The 
only  error  is  the  wrong  view  of  Self,  but  the  error 
includes  all  others;  it  is  primary  and  capital.  The 
soul  wanders  through  re-birth  until  it  discovers  its 
nature. 

Expression  is  more  than  thought.  It  is  the  descrip- 
tion and  manifestation  of  thought.  The  meaning  of 
thought  is  realized  through  its  manifestation,  and  its 
manifestation  is  conduct.  Religious  teachers  are 
practitioners  of  belief,  rather  than  verbal  exponents. 
Argument  obtains  in  the  first  stages  of  spiritual  de- 
velopment. The  intellect  must  be  satisfied,  and  has 
a  right  to  be  convinced.  The  way  which  has  been 
travelled  should  be  clear  and  unbroken.  The  mists 
of  doubt  should  have  been  dispersed.  Let  any  one 
principle  be  incompletely  developed  and  other  prin- 
ciples are  one-sided.  As  far  as  the  soul  has  perfected 
its  unfoldment,  the  whole  man  must  be  educated,  con- 


Man  and  His  Shadow.  79 

trolled,  purged  of  inverted  beliefs  and  desires.  The 
machine  of  principles  through  which  man  manifests 
must  be  delicately  balanced,  else  disturbance  sets  in. 
The  decay  of  religions  is  through  the  maladjustment 
between  the  intellect  and  the  soul.  A  religion  is  the 
outward  presentation  of  inner  mental  and  emotional 
relations  of  the  individual  soul  to  the  Supreme. 
Efficient  religions  respond  to  both  the  intellectual  and 
emotional  need.  These  religions  have  outlived  the 
centuries.  They  are  rich  in  symbolism  and  color, 
but  the  ceremonial  is  in  keeping  with  developed  the- 
ological eclecticism.  The  mind  is  dependent  on  the 
imagination.  The  imagination  is  supported  by  reason 
and,  in  turn,  supports  reason.  All  knowledge  is 
symbolic  and  can  never  be  ultimately  real,  for  no 
system  of  thought,  however  inclusive,  can  ever  fully 
answer  the  query  of  the  soul  with  regard  to  its  nature. 
"Self  is  perceived  alone  by  Self." 

Music  is  never  fully  comprehended.  There  is  so 
much  beyond  external  concordances  of  sound,  so  much 
beyond  harmony  which  is  of  the  soul.  The  relation 
between  sound  and  hearing  is  psychological.  The 
vibrations  of  the  soul  and  of  music  are  coextensive 
in  influence.  Everything  is  vibration;  when  vibra- 
tions between  the  soul  and  on  what  it  is  centered  are 
equal,  the  soul  understands.  If  the  vibrations  differ 
in  character  and  modification  from  those  of  the  soul, 
it  does  not  understand.  Understanding  is  a  matter 
of  vibration ;  vibration,  another  word  for  feeling,  and 
feeling  expresses  the  activity  of  consciousness. 

Soul  alone  can  impress  conscious  values  on  the 


80  Man  and  His  Shadow. 

many  dualities  of  emotion,  attachment,  aversion  and 
so  on.  It  is  rather  advanced  to  state  that  music  has 
soul,  that  each  expression  of  sound  is  soul.  If  it 
were  not  true,  however,  how  could  the  inert  call  forth 
the  activity  of  sensitive  and  specialized  conscious- 
ness ?  Nothing  can  arouse  the  soul  save  what  pos- 
sesses the  essence  of  soul.  Music  is  symbolic ;  knowl- 
edge is  symbolic.  They  have  power  in  stimulating 
the  spiritual  essence  of  man.  In  every  religion  music 
is  embodied  in  liturgy,  and  knowledge  in  theology 
and  esoteric  philosophy.  Through  their  activity  the 
vibrations  of  spiritual  truth  affect  the  soul. 

One-sixteenth  portion  of  effort  widens  the  avenues 
of  spiritual  understanding,  accelerates  the  manifes- 
tation of  the  intuitive,  increases  mental  possibili- 
ties, strengthens  the  physical  and  develops  spiritual 
power  and  control.  The  mind  must  affiliate  itself 
with  the  necessary  surroundings.  It  must  develop 
the  staying  support  of  the  imaginative.  It  must 
bring  itself  into  harmony  with  the  richness  of 
symbolism.  It  must  increase  the  emotional  suscepti- 
bilities through  the  contemplation  of  sorrow,  through 
the  contemplation  of  joy,  through  passiveness  to 
musical  harmonies  of  sacred  character.  It  must  learn 
to  sense  the  divine  in  all  things.  It  must  discover  the 
methods  of  proper  relation  to  the  source  of  all  per- 
ception and  power,  the  infinite  energy  behind  nature 
and  consciousness.  It  must  consciously  perceive 
through  the  soul  the  essential  illuminating  Spirit.  It 
must  repeat  the  assertion:  "Self  is  not  mind,  nor 
anything  identified  with  mind.    Self  is  not  body,  nor 


Man  and  His  Shadow.  81 

anything  identified  with  body."  In  the  ultimate, 
Spirit  alone  exists  and,  if  reality  and  existence  are 
to  be  accorded  to  aught  else,  it  can  only  be  through 
the  everlasting  Spirit.  All  these  visions,  fleeting  and 
characterless,  except  through  the  understanding  of 
soul,  must  be  transposed.  The  mind  must  review  it- 
self, not  through  a  process  of  logical  analysis,  but 
through  direct  sight  and  discrimination  of  soul.  It 
must  realize  that  this  manifold  universe  is  a  figment 
of  the  mind,  that  mind  and  matter  have,  by  some 
unknowable  process,  become  intermingled,  and  that 
through  this  mixture  all  these  phantasms  of  relative 
existence  and  relative  truth  have  meaning  and  char- 
acter. This  line  of  thought  is,  to  all  appearances, 
outclassed  by  the  question:  "How  did  mind  become 
mixed  with  nature  ?  How  did  the  ever  perfect  soul 
become  imperfect?"  The  only  and  final  answer 
which  can  be  given  is  the  answer  of  unanswerable 
logic.  A  proposition  beyond  time,  space  and  causa- 
tion cannot  be  formulated.  Soul  cannot  deny  the 
existence  of  soul.  It  asserts:  "I  am."  Conscious- 
ness cannot  analize  consciousness  because  it  is  con- 
sciousness which  is  analyizing  itself  and  subjective 
consciousness  is  eternally  unanalizable.  The  un- 
analizable  is  one  with  the  unanswerable  question: 
"How  did  the  universe  originate?  How  did  mind 
become  mixed  with  matter  ?"  The  proper  question  to 
ask  is :  "What  is  the  soul  ?"  That,  too,  is  unknow- 
able, because  the  finite  expression  of  the  soul  is  within 
the  laws  of  space,  time  and  causation.  "How  should 
this  finite  self  know  the  Infinite  Knower?"     How, 


82  Man  and  His  Shadow. 

too,  should  the  Infinite  Knower,  know  the  finite  self? 
Busied  with  the  endless  procession  of  temporal  wants 
and  fleeting  satisfactions,  this  lower  self,  caught 
within  the  cyclings  of  life  and  death,  is  too  imperfect 
to  comprehend  the  essence  of  the  soul.  The  Infinite, 
the  Holy  and  Perfect  One  is  conscious  only  of  Him- 
self, and  in  that  consciousness  is:  "Existence  Abso- 
lute, Knowledge  Absolute,  Bliss  Absolute."  He  is  the 
Blissful  One,  the  Omniscient  One,  He  the  Ancient, 
Unborn,  Everlasting.  This  body  comes,  this  mind 
goes,  this  personality  changes,  this  individuality,  to 
become  perfect,  must  also  go.  All  must  be  merged 
within  the  infinite  ocean  of  pure  existence  and  pure 
knowledge.  All  other  aspiration  is  of  the  false  ego, 
all  other  desire,  the  desire  of  selfishness,  all  other 
activity,  the  activity  of  the  unworthy.  The  highest 
psychic  power  is  passiveness  to  all  power ;  the  highest 
knowledge,  the  passive  knowledge  of  everlasting  con- 
sciousness ;  the  highest  joy,  the  bliss  of  the  eternal. 

How  weak  is  reason !  Kant  has  told  us  that  there 
is  a  wall  which  conditions  the  ultimate  activity  of 
reason,  preventing  it  from  ever  reaching  beyond  the 
perception  and  inference  of  the  sensuous.  Kant  has 
told  of  transcendental  values;  of  values  beyond  the 
senses;  yea,  even  beyond  the  mind.  In  his  exalted 
philosophy  he  has  reunited  reason  and  truth;  reason 
and  the  meaning  of  the  ethical ;  reason  and  the  use- 
fulness and  gain  of  self -contemplation ;  reason  and 
the  religious  instinct;  reason  and  the  reality  of  the 
divine.  But  that  fundamental  system  of  thought 
which  developed  into  the  Vedas,  which  developed  into 


Man  and  His  Shadow.  83 

the  Zarathustrian  Gathas,  that  system  of  thought 
which  traversed  the  Orient  into  Greece  and  Rome, 
went  farther  even  than  Kant,  for  it  developed  the 
system  of  introspection  to  which  Kant  referred.  If 
there  are  things  beyond  reason  they  must  be  sought 
out;  if  there  are  truths  beyond  sensuous  perception, 
those  truths  must  be  learned;  if  there  is  the  real 
man  above  this  limited  manifestaiion,  then  that  man 
must  be  born  to  consciousness.  If  there  is  the  divine, 
the  depths  of  the  soul  must  cry  unto  the  depths  of  the 
divine  for  illumination  and  realization.  How  limited, 
how  infantile,  how  utterly  beneath  are  we !  Our  true 
nature  is  the  cosmic  divine,  the  transcendent  divine, 
the  eternal,  the  beginningless  and  endless.  Whipped 
as  a  dog,  treated  with  contempt,  the  slave  has  only  the 
consciousness  of  the  slave,  of  his  miserable  lot,  of  his 
limited  condition,  of  his  weakness  and  disgrace,  of 
his  low  place  in  the  vast  order  of  life.  But  when 
the  slave  gains  his  freedom,  when  his  shackles  are  re- 
moved, then  he  no  longer  obeys  the  whims  of  a  mas- 
ter ;  the  slave  is  transformed  into  a  man,  free  to  come 
and  go  as  he  will,  free  to  do  as  he  chooses.  He  may 
become  successful  in  his  business  pursuit.  He  may 
acquire  wealth.  He  may  develop  his  intelligence 
through  proper  association  and  surrounding.  In  a 
short  time  what  difference  manifests  in  that  man! 
All  the  difference  in  the  world.  That  is  just  the  case 
with  each  and  every  soul.  Men  are  bound  hand  and 
foot,  thrown,  as  it  were,  into  this  condition  of  imper- 
fect existence.  They  have  lost  sight  of  their  true 
nature  and  grovel  in  the  dust  of  desires  incomparably 


84  Man  and  His  Shadow. 

beneath  the  nature  of  the  pure  and  divine.  Limita- 
tion upon  limitation!  This  entire  universe  is  a  lim- 
itation which  has  been  superimposed  upon  the  soul. 
In  what  respect  is  the  soul  free  ?  Only  as  it  associates 
the  activity  of  the  lower  self  with  the  activity  of  the 
law. 

In  the  law  there  is  illimitable  freedom.  With- 
out the  pale  of  the  law  is  bondage,  slavery,  pain. 
The  nature  of  the  soul  is  law.  The  essence  of  the 
soul  is  law.  When  men  blaspheme  their  natures  they 
bear  the  curse,  and  that  curse  is  the  sad  and  miser- 
able side  of  life.  Nature  leads  us  through  this  in- 
definiteness  of  phenomenal  life,  showing  us  the  un- 
worthiness,  the  nothingness,  the  emptiness  of  every- 
thing. She  forms  the  material  environment  and  cir- 
cumstances so  the  soul  can  transcend  these  shadows 
and  falseness.  She  unfastens  the  chain  of  material 
bondage.  When  the  soul  has  become  worthy  of  such 
reward,  she  gives  it  command  over  the  material  and 
the  lower  phases  of  material  life;  she  reveals  the 
indescribable  nature  and  power  of  the  inner  life, 
the  life  which  is  the  true  support  of  material  life. 
From  control  of  the  material,  she  leads  the  soul  to 
the  understanding  and  control  of  the  inner  life.  She 
shows  the  soul  of  what  substance  the  mind  is  com- 
posed. She  leads  it  to  the  understanding  of  the 
existential  conditions  of  thought.  She  tells  it  the  nat- 
ure of  thought,  the  conditions  of  its  activity,  its  in- 
fluence and  its  power.  When  the  mind  becomes  ac- 
quainted with  anything  it  controls  it.  After  having 
come  to  a  complete  understanding  of  limited  manifes- 


Man  and  His  Shadow.  85 

tation,  after  having  gained  control  over  it,  after  hav- 
ing absorbed  that  knowledge  so  that  it  is  ever  at  our 
disposal,  the  soul  attains  to  that  superior  understand- 
ing absorbed  that  knowledge  so  that  it  is  ever  at  its 
glimpse  of  the  beyond.  The  material  sciences  gain 
control  over  material  energy  by  the  force  of  persistent 
investigation. 

Persistent  investigation  and  the  discovery  of  tran- 
scendent life  are  not  external,  but  introspective.  All 
the  knowledge  of  existence  outside  of  the  mind  is  of 
no  avail.  It  may  lead  to  some  important  inference, 
but  it  cannot  explain  the  entire  truth.  For  illumina- 
tion is  not  a  matter  of  rational  perception,  but  of  intu- 
itive discrimination.  The  mind  must  see  itself,  the 
mind  must  explain  itself.  The  Law  takes  the  soul  into 
familiar  relationship,  explaining  all  things  and  intro- 
ducing its  perception  in  all  the  avenues  of  life  and 
death.  The  Law  is  one ;  the  Law  is  truth ;  the  Law 
is  life;  the  Law  is  Alpha  and  Omega.  Within  the 
boundaries  of  its  activity  all  relative  existence  is  con- 
trolled. Beyond  the  Law  is  the  Unconditioned,  the 
Perfect.  Only  those  within  the  wheel  are  bound. 
Taking  the  axe  of  spiritual  understanding,  split  the 
pole  which  holds  and  conditions  the  activity  of  the 
two  wheels  of  duality.  When  the  pole  is  split,  the 
wheels  circle  a  moment  or  so  longer,  and  finally  both 
cease.  Then  the  soul  has  passed  into  that  indiscern- 
ible of  states,  which  cannot  be  described  either  by 
"Yes"  or  "No." 

In  the  realm  of  the  finite  everything  is  conditioned. 
Name  is  conditioned,  form  is  conditioned,  life  is  con- 


86  Man  and  His  Shadow. 

ditioncd.  Names  arc  deceptive,  in  so  far  as  they 
never  fully  convey  the  meaning  of  thought.  There 
are  thoughts  which  no  words  can  adequately  express. 
They  are  beyond  the  conscious  mind,  but  the  con- 
scious mind  has  a  premonition  of  their  character  and 
import.  Just  as  in  certain  efforts  at  memory  the 
mind  must  become  silent  before  it  can  remember,  so 
many  thoughts  must  be  allowed  to  form  in  the  sub- 
conscious mind.  Trying  to  develop  their  character 
is  equal  to  destroying  them.  Many  take  life  in  its 
surface  appearance.  But  the  surface  appearance  is 
conditioned  through  the  subconscious  element.  All 
discovery,  all  invention,  all  genius,  all  revelation 
comes  through  the  avenue  of  the  subconscious  and 
intuitive.  Thoughts  form  beneath  the  surface  of  con- 
sciousness and  then  flash  across  the  mind  as  a  new 
truth,  or  as  some  material  discovery.  The  intuitive 
or  supernormal  mind  is  the  storehouse  of  all  knowl- 
edge. When  the  soul  enters  into  the  superconscious 
realm,  it  is  in  relationship  with  the  origin  and  forma- 
tion of  objective  knowledge.  All  knowledge  has  its 
source  in  the  intuitive.  Intuitive  knowledge  is 
potential.  It  is  now  involved.  The  aim  is  to  get  that 
knowledge  evolved  into  personal  perception,  and  into 
conscious  understanding.  This  storehouse  of  endless 
knowledge  must  be  opened.  Consciousness  must  enter 
and  discern  truth.  The  mind  proceeds  to  conquer  the 
external  by  knowledge.  With  every  acquisition,  con- 
sciousness grows  larger  and  the  external  smaller. 
After  a  great  part  of  the  way  has  been  travelled,  con- 
sciousness is  the  central  fact,  while  the  phenomenal 


Man  and  His  Shadow.  87 

constantly  loses  reality.  Consciousness  lias  absorbed 
the  phenomenal,  proving  that  all  things  proceed  from 
consciousness,  that  all  things  have  significance  only 
as  interpreted  through  consciousness.  If  a  man  is 
physically  separated  from  a  portion  of  his  property 
he  would  not,  under  any  circumstance,  claim  that  the 
property  was  not  his.  A  portion  of  infinite  conscious- 
ness is  separated  from  the  central  consciousness,  and 
regarded  as  individual.  The  severed  portion  is  called 
the  world  of  phenomena.  As  it  grows  in  knowledge  the 
soul  discovers  that  the  universe  is  within  itself.  The 
greatness  of  the  lower  self  is  in  the  existence  of  the 
higher  Self,  and  that  Self  is  beyond  duality.  Through 
the  manifestation  of  that  Self  Its  images  are  reckoned 
as  many,  when  Self  alone  is. 

The  mind,  in  its  normal  phases,  is  conditioned 
under  the  laws  of  time,  space  and  causation  as  they 
affect  this  plane  of  life.  But  the  mind  is  not  exclus- 
ively conditioned  by  the  activity  of  these  laws.  It 
can  rise  above  them  by  concentration.  In  ordinary 
concentration  when  the  mind  pays  attention  to  the 
things  in  which  it  is  interested,  time  quickly  flies. 
Surroundings  are  forgotten.  The  mind,  absorbed,  is 
unaware  of  other  things.  Conditioned  into  one  wave- 
form, the  mind  suppresses  the  many  other  wave  forms 
which  flood  it,  when  it  is  not  strictly  concentrated  upon 
one  given  strain  of  thought.  Time  is  conditioned 
through  the  meaning  given  it  by  consciousness.  Its 
phases  of  duration  and  conscious  value  entirely  de- 
pend on  the  significance  which  consciousness  attaches. 
In  the  dream  state  a  series  of  experiences  may  occur 


88  Man  and  His  Shadow. 

within  the  shortest  space  of  time.  Men  have  dreamed 
that  they  were  soldiers  on  battlefields  of  long-pro- 
tracted wars.  Men  have  dreamed  they  rose  from 
obscurity  to  fame  in  time  which  would  in  reality 
require  years,  the  dream  occupying  only  a  few 
seconds.  This  illustrates  that  for  consciousness  to 
appreciate  realities  needs  but  a  flash  of  time.  It 
explains  how  consciousness,  independent  of  body,  can 
travel  to  the  most  distant  places,  and  become  aware  of 
experiences  remote  in  time  and  distance.  Thought 
is  not  bound  by  obstructions  of  the  physical.  Thought, 
composed  of  rarer  material  particles,  is  unmixed  with 
the  variations  of  the  physical,  surpasses  them,  con- 
trols and  determines  their  activity.  The  thinker  is 
the  real  man.  Because  of  the  desire  of  the  real  man 
to  experience  the  sensuous  existence  of  physical 
environment  and  relationship,  he  is  placed  in 
causal  connection  with  the  material  plane  through  the 
instrumentality  of  physical  and  ethereal  vibrations. 
But  when  the  thinker  grows  into  the  knowledge  that, 
in  reality,  he  is  free  from  the  thraldom  of  the  phys- 
ical, when  he  realizes  that  he  is  above  it,  if  he  so 
wishes  to  be,  when  he  understands  that  all  material 
vibrations  are  created  by  his  wishes,  that  the  thinker 
can  regulate  and  distribute  them  to  the  best  advan- 
tage, he  can  go  beyond  this  particular  plane  of  time, 
space  and  causation.  He  can  divert  consciousness  to 
any  condition  desired.  A  person  thinks  of  childhood 
days,  of  his  home,  and  so  on.  Where  is  his  con- 
sciousness ?  It  is  where  his  memory  is.  Memory 
is  not  something  separate  from  consciousness.     It  is 


Man  and  His  Shadow.  89 

an  adaptation  of  consciousness  to  the  past.  In  ratio 
to  the  quality  and  area  of  embraciveness  of  the 
memory  is  consciousness  enabled  to  transpose  it- 
self in  the  degree.  Supposing  that  memory  is 
perfect,  then  the  entire  consciousness  can  be  rele- 
gated to  the  past.  Distinctions  between  memory 
and  consciousness  are  made,  because  as  yet  man  is 
not  conscious  of  the  methods  for  perfecting  the  quali- 
ties of  memory.  Everything  is  consciousness,  only 
there  are  different  modes  of  its  expression.  When 
consciousness  is  in  activity,  it  manifests  as  will.  But 
the  will  is  in  no  wise  separate  from  consciousness. 

As  all  variations  of  consciousness  are  the  same  in 
essence,  the  development  of  any  separate  activity  such 
as  memory  or  intellect  will  have  its  general  in- 
fluence. Consciousness  is  developed  in  its  area  of 
perception  and  in  its  expression.  Through  the 
unintermittent  association  of  mind  with  body,  con- 
sciousness is  almost  entirely  concerned  with  phys- 
ical life  and  expression.  When  the  mind  ap- 
preciates the  body  in  its  proper  relation  to  conscious- 
ness it  transcends  the  limitations  of  the  body  and 
perceives  facts  and  truths  beyond  the  isolated  phys- 
ical. It  will  perceive  the  all-important  existence  of 
the  soul.  The  thinker  will  discover  himself.  He  will 
come  to  appreciate  that  time,  space  and  causation  are 
conditioned  by  the  largeness  of  perception  of  the  ever 
sentient  ego,  that  the  ever  sentient  ego  is  alone  the 
criterion  of  reality. 

In  the  struggle  for  those  things  which  count  in 
the  summing  up  of  perfection  of  character  and  the 


90  Man  aud  His  Shadow. 

development  of  consciousness,  the  soul  ever  has  super- 
abundant help.  The  feet  of  the  traveller  are  not 
likely  to  stray  into  the  pathway  of  the  erroneous,  for 
his  hands  are  held  by  the  Lords  of  Being  and  his  stay- 
ing support  is  the  all-containing  energy  and  fulness 
of  intelligence  behind  nature  which  also  form  the 
essential  and  everlasting  background  of  the  soul. 
Though  no  one  lent  the  soul  support  in  the  indivi- 
dual search  after  truth,  there  is  always  the  Teacher 
within,  ever  ready  to  assist  it  in  the  hour  of  need. 
In  its  effort,  the  soul  must  be  sincere,  worthy  in 
aspiration,  determined  in  purpose,  ever  mindful  of 
the  larger  truth.  It  must  accentuate  the  higher,  curb 
the  lower,  ultimately  transforming  it  into  the  higher 
through  proper  association  and  environment.  No 
man  is  alone  in  the  highest  sense.  It  is  wicked  to 
speak  of  weakness  when  infinite  strength  is  our  in- 
heritance. The  soul  relates  itself  to  the  highest,  and 
the  highest,  in  turn,  reacts  on  the  soul.  When  the 
emotions  of  man  cry  out,  their  objects  are  attracted 
and  manifest.  This  is  particularly  true  concerning 
the  highest  ideals,  the  soul  and  Spirit,  It  is  all 
in  ratio  to  the  depth  of  desire  and  the  development 
of  consciousness,  also  to  the  depth  of  character  and 
to  the  quality  and  activity  of  character.  Man  should 
be  taught  and  know  that  he  is  superior  to  these  many 
limitations.  He  must  know  that,  instead  of  being 
slave  to  nature,  he  is  lord  and  master.  Conscious- 
ness cannot  be  limited.  That  is  sufficient  knowledge 
and  truth.  With  the  unfoldment  of  that  knowledge 
and  truth,  man  grows  out  of  the  man  into  the  super- 


Man  and  His  Shadow.  91 

man ;  from  the  superman  he  progresses  into  the  nature 
of  the  godlike  and  the  divine,  and  beyond  that,  beyond 
and  beyond  into  that  glory  and  sublimity  which  more 
and  more  brings  into  light  the  true  nature  and  essence 
of  man,  and  that  is  "Existence  Absolute,  Knowledge 
Absolute,  Bliss  Absolute." 


STAGES  OF  PSYCHIC  PROGRESS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

STAGES  OF  PSYCHIC  PROGRESS. 

Form  of  itself  is  nothing.  Character,  mind,  soul, 
mental  tendencies  and  inequalities  are  of  sole  im- 
portance. All  that  survives  bodily  disintegration 
is  character;  and  the  sum-total  of  any  character  is 
the  sum-total  of  the  consciousness  which  has  given  it 
expression.  The  mental  element  alone  endures.  All 
the  lower  principles  of  man  disintegrate.  The  body 
decays  after  the  accomplishment  of  the  purpose  of  its 
manifestation.  The  desire  element,  together  with  the 
lower  mind,  are  subject  to  change.  The  life  of  man 
is  formed  of  mental  conditions,  and  all  mental  con- 
ditions are  equal  to  so  many  states  of  consciousness. 
Mental  states  and  state  of  consciousness  being  equal 
their  claim  to  immortality  are  equal.  At  death 
the  mental  status  passes  into  the  psychic  plane. 
The  prevalent  idea  is  that  death  makes  an  important 
change  in  personality.  That  idea  comes  through 
wrong  interpretation  of  after-death  states.  Orthodox 
religions  have  for  centuries  encouraged  the  idea  of 
heaven  and  hell.  Expressed  in  other  words,  they  say 
that  death  takes  changing  personality  and  forever 
determines  its  after-death  expression.  Anything  that 
continually  changes  in  expression  cannot  become 
changeless.    This  idea  is  as  erroneous  as  the  accepted 


96  Stages  of  Psychic  Progress. 

idea  of  the  origin  of  the  soul.  According  to  the  ortho- 
dox conception,  each  soul  has  been  specially  created, 
that  is,  it  had  a  beginning  in  time.  It  follows  that 
each  soul  will  have  an  end.  But  if  the  soul  is  above 
beginning  and  end,  then  only  is  it  absolutely  im- 
mortal ;  it  is  eternal.  Similarly,  if  the  usually  inter- 
preted idea  of  heaven  and  hell  is  illusionary,  death 
finds  the  soul  just  as  it  was  previous  to  death.  Char- 
acter is  the  same  immediately  after  death  as  before. 
It  is  in  the  persistence  of  consciousness  that  similar- 
ity and  identity  continue  after  death.  There  are  no 
abrupt  dividing  lines  in  nature.  Everything  proceeds 
in  natural  order.  The  transition  of  physical  into 
subjective  life  is  not  a  sudden  break.  It  is  consistent 
with  the  laws  of  nature.  Death  is  as  natural  as  birth. 
Man  comes  into  this  world  unconscious,  he  leaves  it 
unconscious.  When  the  final  lease  on  life  has  ex- 
pired, the  soul  passes  beyond  in  a  comatose  state.  It 
awakens,  sometimes  aware  of  its  condition  and  sur- 
roundings, sometimes  not.  If  the  spiritual  faculties 
and  intuitions  are  developed,  the  soul  finds  itself  in 
the  daylight  of  perception.  If  not,  it  is  surrounded 
with  the  night  of  undeveloped  perception.  On  the 
psychic  plane  consciousness  manifests  in  the  psychic 
order.  The  psychic  order  is  more  extensive  than  the 
physical,  for  it  includes  the  latter.  Those  who  have 
passed  beyond  still  perceive  the  phenomena  on  the 
earth  plane,  just  as  the  psychically  evolved  of  the 
earth  plane  perceive  conditions  and  phases  of  life  on 
the  psychic  plane.  The  aim  of  psychic  unfoldment  is 
direct  vision  of  truth.     Spiritual  unfoldment  is  the 


Stages  of  Psychic  Progress.  97 

evolution  of  consciousness  from  the  plane  of  belief 
to  the  plane  of  knowledge.  It  is  a  state  every  soul 
must  realize  before  it  can  truly  say:  "I  have  per- 
ceived the  truth.  I  am  one  with  the  truth."  As  long 
as  this  unfoldment  is  potential,  so  long  is  truth 
only  potential,  and  so  long  is  the  open  vision  closed. 
The  soul  must  learn  that  the  secret  of  knowledge  is  in 
the  superior  elements  of  its  nature.  The  greatest 
service  the  soul  can  render  itself  is  the  transmission 
of  spiritual  knowledge  in  which  the  mystic  name  is 
communicated,  in  which  the  potential  is  manifested. 
This  service  was  accorded  the  neophytes  of  old  in 
sacred  rites.  It  was  the  symbolism  of  Mithraic  wor- 
ship, the  symbolism  of  the  Samothracian,  Elusinian 
and  Dodonian  mysteries.  This  service  is  the  full 
accomplishment  of  finite  life,  because  it  points  to  and 
finally  reaches  the  goal  of  infinite  life.  It  is  the  key 
to  the  mystic  door  of  life  and  death,  the  significance 
and  the  explanation  of  the  apparent  perpetuity  of  the 
round  of  existences.  It  embodies  severest  discipline, 
deepest  investigation,  the  most  exalted  of  purposes, 
the  finale  of  all  effort.  This  service  is  work  for  the 
work's  own  sake.  Passionless,  patient,  divine  work 
is  true  work.  "When  persons  are  enthusiatic  and  over- 
whelmed with  emotion,  much  energy  is  misdirected 
and  lost.  The  highest  enthusiasm  is  loftiness  and 
determination  of  purpose  and  is  born  of  exalted  ideas 
and  sympathies.  The  motive  principle  of  all  work  is 
sincerity  of  ideas  and  feelings.  The  highest  ideal  is 
knowingly  or  unknowingly  the  ideal  of  each  and  every 
soul.     Self  is  the  embodiment  of  all  idealism.     The 


98  Stages  of  Psychic  Progress. 

sensitive  soul  is  fully  aware,  however,  that  the  ideal 
is  far  above  rational  consciousness.  The  mind,  bur- 
dened with  coarser  material,  cannot  soar  into  the 
empyrean  of  ideals. 

All  ideals,  converge  to  one  point.  Unity  is  the  soul 
of  variety.  Prom  unity  all  things  proceed ;  into  unity 
all  things  ultimately  merge.  The  background  of  all 
separate  ideals  is  the  supreme  ideal,  and  that 
supreme  ideal  is  Self.  This  means  that  the  ideal  of 
all  is  one,  having  the  same  origin  and  the  same  goal 
of  realization.  When  work  is  performed  through 
desire  to  benefit,  the  benefit  will  come.  If  the  soul 
relates  itself  to  higher  lives,  it  partakes  of  such 
union.  If  one  worships,  the  True,  the  Good  and  the 
Beautiful,  he  gains  in  ratio  to  the  strength  and  the 
lasting  qualities  of  the  motive  principles  which  in- 
spire worship.  But  all  this  worship  and  effort  of 
realizing  lower  ideals  is  vain  in  the  light  of  the 
supreme  ideal  which  can  alone  inspire  the  soul  with 
true  bliss.  Philosophy,  in  its  continuing  develop- 
ment, has  risen  from  primitive  conceptions  of  many 
and  varied  ideals  to  the  all-embraciveness  of  one  ideal. 
That  ideal  has  been  variously  named  and  variously 
appropriated.  Different  values  have  been  placed  on 
ideals  as  different  phases  of  philosophy  drew  different 
ideals  from  the  spiritual  storehouse.  Now  this  value 
has  been  superposed,  now  that.  The  ideal  formerly 
cherished  gives  way  to  better  and  later  conception. 
In  its  highest  flights  the  mind  discovers  that  all  ideals 
are  only  variations  of  one  ideal;  that  one  ideal  em- 
braces and  explains  all  others. 


Stages  of  Psychic  Progress.  99 

The  lower  mind  can  never  express  the  higher  mind 
because,  if  such  could  be,  the  higher  would  come  to 
the  level  of  the  lower,  for  things  of  equal  character 
and  import  are  expressed  on  the  same  plane  of  mani- 
festation. The  supreme  ideal  can  never  be  brought 
to  the  plane  of  the  merely  rational.  Keason 
has  its  value,  but  not  in  proportion  to  the  spir- 
itual object  of  reason.  Before  the  mind  can  reach 
within  its  depths  and  perceive  truth  it  must  be  in- 
spired by  the  highest  of  ideals,  otherwise  its  work  is 
relative  and  its  gain  will  be  relative.  The  idea  is  to 
transcend  this  relatively,  to  go  direct  to  the  meaning 
and  light  and  life  of  all  relativity,  and  that  life  and 
light  and  meaning  can  be  had  only  by  converting 
lower  principles  into  their  co-ordinating  position  so 
that  their  relative  value  is  estimated.  Separately 
taken,  lower  ideals  can  realize  only  the  lower,  and 
the  lower  shifts  from  the  lower  to  the  lower.  It  is  a 
circle,  and  the  circle  is  continuously  expressing  the 
nature  of  the  circle  and  of  the  phenomenal.  The 
inner  value  must  be  sought  and  adjusted  to  the  intel- 
lect and  consciousness.  That  is  the  real,  passionless, 
pure,  work  which  leads  the  soul  to  Self. 

The  mind,  to  be  single  and  simple,  must  become  ad- 
justed to  the  highest  wave-form.  It  must  think  of» 
one  idea  and  desire  the  attainment  of  one  specific 
ideal.  The  surface  expression  of  the  mind  is  indef- 
inite in  variety,  complex  in  nature,  uneven  in  char- 
acter, uncontrolled  in  disposition,  and  influenced  by 
fluctuations  of  desire.  Thus  the  voice  of  the  passion- 
less, supereminent  Self  is  not  quickly  heard.     To 


100  Stages  of  Psychic  Progress. 

center  the  mind  and  bring  it  under  control  of  the 
soul,  the  latter  must  be  inspired  by  spiritual  insight 
and  intelligence.  Variety  and  unevenness  of  the 
mind  is  the  source  of  unevenness  of  impulse  and  con- 
duct. Everything  is  the  result  of  mind,  everything 
the  result  of  what  we  have  thought,  and  what  we  will 
be  is  determined  by  the  result  of  what  we  shall  in  the 
future  think.  Over  the  future  we  have  perfect  control, 
apart  from  the  momentum  of  past  influences.  But 
will  is  superior  to  the  binding  force  of  all  influence. 
Indeed,  it  is  the  will  which  controls  the  binding  force 
of  past  deeds.  Just  as  the  will  has  imparted  its 
strength  to  past  acts,  thus  giving  them  form  and  char- 
acter ,  so  the  will  can  dispose  of  that  strength  by 
changing  its  current  of  expression.  The  will  has 
made  the  soul  what  it  is.  The  will  is  the  condensa- 
tion and  the  specialization  of  the  activity  of  con- 
sciousness into  a  given  direction  and  area  of  prupose. 
There  are  various  stages  in  the  evolution  of  the  will 
and  in  the  attainment  of  singleness  and  simplicity  of 
mind.  There  are  various  stages  in  the  accomplish- 
ment of  harmonious  activity  of  the  mind.  The  lofti- 
est height  cannot  be  climbed  in  a  single  effort.  It 
takes  many  efforts,  but  each  ascent  affords  a  new  and 
more  general  view.  Each  effort  enlarges  the  per- 
spective of  the  soul.  The  first  of  these  developing 
stages  is  the  satisfaction  with  regard  to  the  existence 
of  truth  and  the  reality  of  the  soul.  Much  is  gained 
when  the  questionings  of  the  mind  have  been  silenced, 
when  all  doubts  have  vanished  and  the  soul  is  estab- 
lished in  its  own  light.     Those  things  which  come 


Stages  of  Psychic  Progress.  101 

under  immediate  sense  perception  we  choose  to  call 
real.  In  the  first  stage  of  psychic  unfoldment  there 
is  the  actual  sight,  the  actual  hearing  and  actual  feel- 
ing  of  supersensuous  and  superconscious  realities. 
Peace,  too,  has  taken  its  abode  within  the  soul.  The 
argumentative  stage  has  vanished  and  spiritual  qui- 
escense  possesses  the  soul.  No  more  reasoning  now. 
The  time  has  come  for  knowledge  beyond  reason. 
The  soul  has  passed  beyond  the  surface  truth  into  full 
consciousness  of  realities  that  make  belief  worthy. 
When  this  first  stage  is  reached  the  soul  knows  that 
the  spiritual  sun  has  risen  and  that  the  horizon  of 
vision  shall  be  increased  by  its  gradual  course. 
The  second  of  these  transcendent  stages  is  that 
anything  of  a  painful  nature  has  lost  its  influ- 
ence. Pain  comes  through  the  association  and  iden- 
tification of  the  mind  with  the  body.  When  the 
mind  is  abstracted  from  the  body,  by  reason  of  intense 
interest  or  concentration,  the  body  may  be  pricked 
with  a  needle  and  no  sensation  of  pain  follows.  In 
concentration  on  higher  orders  of  thought,  expressing 
control  and  adjustment  of  physical  and  mental  in- 
harmonies,  the  mind  becomes  indifferent  to  what  may 
befall  the  physical.  Truth  has  taken  its  abode  in  the 
body,  and  the  vibrations  of  the  physical  harmonize 
with  the  vibrations  of  the  spiritual.  Spiritual  vibra- 
tions have  sanative  values.  Being  in  accordance  with 
the  highest  interpretation  of  universal  law  their  in- 
fluence is  highly  beneficial.  The  superior  influence 
and  conditions  of  the  spiritual  control  the  inequali- 
ties of  bodily  motions.    This  is  manifest  in  Christian 


102  Stages  of  Psychic  Progress. 

Science,  New  Thought  and  in  the  Emanuel  Move- 
ment. The  psychological  character  of  this  influence 
is  shown  in  the  case  of  hypnotized  persons  diagnosing 
their  diseases,  and  prescribing  remedies.  In  hypnosis, 
the  patient  is  brought  to  a  consciousness  of  inner 
mental  and  bodily  states  through  external  suggestion. 
In  spiritual  unfoldment  this  introspection  comes  with 
advanced  stages  of  individual  control. 

The  third  stage  in  rendering  the  mind  simple  and 
single  exists  when  it  has  recourse  to  the  infinite  energy 
and  knowledge  at  its  disposal,  and  is  thus  exalted 
above  ordinary  human  nature.  Ordinarily,  man  re- 
ceives knowledge  through  external  investigation.  In 
the  stages  of  psychic  control,  there  is  no  longer  need 
for  external  investigation.  There  is  but  one  fact 
necessary  to  investigate,  the  mind  itself. 

In  the  lowest  physical  arrangement  the  instinctive, 
the  conscious,  the  self-conscious,  the  mentality  are 
only  potential,  but  they  are  nevertheless  existential. 
The  divine  is  within  everything.  Omniscience  re- 
sides in  everything.  These  manifest,  but  the  mani- 
festation is  gradual  in  development.  The  spiritually 
developed  have  a  mental  consciousness  of  objects, 
whereas  the  average  person  has  only  a  physical  con- 
sciousness of  them.  As  the  soul  grows  apart  from  the 
physical  it  perceives  the  mental  element  of  phenom- 
ena. I  know  a  thing  only  when  I  have  certain  mental 
states  concerning  it.  I  know  its  qualities,  and  knowl- 
edge of  qualities  is  purely  mental.  What,  in  fact, 
does  the  soul  know  of  nature,  as  such  ?  Only  its  own 
mental  consciousness.    Instead  of  allowing  an  object 


Stages  of  Psychic  Progress.  103 

to  stimulate  mental  consciouness  through  the  me- 
dium of  the  physical,  consciousness  may  approach 
its  mental  phases.  Instead  of  being  passive  to 
the  influence  of  external  vibrations,  the  mind  may 
become  positive,  and  in  this  positiveness  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  object,  its  mental  meaning  and  sym- 
bolism are  perceived  without  the  medium  of  the  phys- 
ical. The  mind  knows  a  thing  only  when  it  has  con- 
sciousness of  its  qualities.  This  consciousness  is  alone 
true.  It  is  alone  the  meaning,  the  existence  of  the 
object,  so  far  as  the  soul  is  concerned.  Consciousness 
is  informed  of  the  qualities  of  an  object  through  the 
activity  of  the  nerve  system.  But  the  soul,  above  this 
universe  of  time,  space  and  causation,  is  not  limited 
to  any  separate  portion  of  it  or  to  only  one  medium  of 
experience.  The  plane  of  the  physical  is  not  the 
boundary  of  the  activity  of  the  soul.  The  soul  has 
no  boundary.  Why  should  it  be  limited  to  but  one 
mode  of  perception?  Why  should  this  soul,  which 
has  manufactured  this  body  and  nerve  system,  be 
solely  dependent  on  them  for  its  relation  to  physical 
vibrations  ?  All  physical  vibrations  have  their 
ethereal,  astral  and  mental  counterparts.  Why  con- 
fine the  attention  of  the  mind  to  but  one  phase  of  this 
quadruple  character  of  objective  existence  ?  Psychic 
unfoldment  brings  the  mind  into  cognizance  of  many 
things  to  which  ordinary  vision  is  blind.  It  teaches 
that  this  immense  universe  is  only  mental.  For,  out- 
side of  the  reflex  activity  of  the  mind  to  outer  im- 
pulse, nothing  concerning  the  universe  is  known. 
Something   arouses   the   activity   of   the   mind    and 


104:  Stages  of  Psychic  Progress. 

in  this  activity  the  mental  consciousness  of  objective 
life  is  born.  Busied  with  this  reflex  activity  of  the 
mind,  the  soul  forgets  its  many  other  potential  phases 
of  activity.  Men  constantly  limit  their  vision.  It  is 
we  who  have  builded  these  bodies.  How  could  it  be 
otherwise  ?  We  control  the  voluntary  muscles  of  the 
body.  The  mind  has  influence  not  only  over  the 
voluntary  muscles  and  vibrations,  but  also  over  the 
involuntary  muscles.  The  involuntary  muscles  and 
vibrations  were  previously  under  conscious  direction ; 
through  habit  they  have  become  self-active  and  self- 
regulative.  Nature  is  wasteful  of  no  activity  and 
therefore  does  not  associate  conscious  activity  over 
muscles  and  vibrations  self-regulated,  self-moving  and 
self-controlled.  Phases  of  consciousness,  previously 
adapted  to  the  control  of  involuntary  muscles,  now 
control  voluntary  muscles. 

With  the  evolution  of  psychic  faculties,  the  scope 
of  perception  will  be  immeasurably  increased.  The 
psychic  sight  can  be  used,  and  its  vision  is  penetrat- 
ing, and  true.  But  as  long  as  man  is  on  the  earth 
plane  he  must  follow  the  law  of  the  earth  plane.  It 
does  not,  however,  hinder  development  of  psychic 
sight,  for  psychic  sight  is  not  distinct  from  normal 
sight;  it  is  simply  the  evolution  and  perfection  of 
normal  sight.  The  adept  can,  whenever  he  chooses, 
employ  the  psychic  senses  in  better  discrimination  of 
physical  relationships.  The  interests  of  the  adept  are 
purely  spiritual,  and  his  mental  and  psychical  activi- 
ties in  keeping  with  the  exalted  character  of  his  pur- 
pose.    That  purpose  is  not  the  display  of  power  or 


Stages  of  Psychic  Progress.  105 

the  working  of  miracles,  but  realization  of  Self- 
knowledge  and  Self-consciousness.  Psychic  activity 
is  of  no  more  miraculous  an  order,  or  of  mysterious 
origin  than  the  activity  of  the  physical.  The  only 
marvelousness  is  the  marvelousness  of  soul.  The 
second  stage  is  the  education  of  the  lower  principles, 
for  then  they  are  controlled,  perfectly  developed,  and 
perfectly  expressed.  The  third  is  the  ultimate  per- 
fection of  this  advanced  evolution.  Physical  control 
is  achieved;  the  mentality  is  passive  to  the  whisper- 
ings of  the  intuitive  and  is  spiritually  related  to  omnis- 
cience. Intellectual  assent  and  dissent  are  substituted 
by  perfect  perception.  Objects  are  no  longer  investi- 
gated. Their  mental  and  psychic  essences  are  under- 
stood by  the  mind,  now  resident  and  active  on  the 
higher  planes.  The  soul  approximates  the  plane  of 
true  individuality.  This  is  the  natural  state  of  the 
truly  spiritually  evolved. 

Whatever  the  mind  approaches,  with  that  it  be- 
comes identified.  The  mind  penetrates  its  surface 
and  beneath  the  surface  into  its  very  depths,  and 
therein  finds  its  universe.  It  discovers  that  all  mental 
conditions  are  variations  of  the  same  mental  sub- 
stance, that  manifoldness  has  orgin  in  the  motions 
of  one  ultimate  force.  Through  this  discrimination 
the  perception  of  ultimate  mental  unity  develops. 
Even  as  varied  states  of  mind  are  controlled,  so  the 
motions  of  the  mental  substance  itself  can  be  con- 
trolled. The  soul  commences  to  realize  that  the  men- 
tal substance  is  the  foundation  of  the  activity  of  the 
mind,  that  all  perception  has  its  expression  in  and 


106  Stages  of  Psychic  Progress. 

through  the  motions  of  one  condition.  Explicitly 
stated,  all  phenomena  have  their  origin  in  the  mind, 
for  perception  is  existentially  an  expression  of  con- 
sciousness. Clothed  with  mind,  consciousness  identi- 
fies itself  with  mind.  It  considers  mind  substance 
its  essence  when  the  mind  is  far  from  so  being. 
Through  this  mode  of  investigation,  the  soul  comes 
to  the  knowledge  that  it  is  free  from  the  bond- 
age of  the  mind ;  that  it  is  self  expressive ;  that  con- 
sciousness is  its  essence  and  not  the  essence  of  the 
mind;  for  all  mental  states  are  of  the  primal  sub- 
stance. The  mind,  in  seeking  to  control  this  sub- 
stance, becomes  the  lord  of  its  desires  and  their  ex- 
pression. Desires  are  normally  formed  through  in- 
stinctive activity  and  are  tributary  to  the  mind.  The 
mind,  slave  to  desires,  is  incapable  of  formulating 
them  for  its  best  welfare,  because  past  conditions  and 
impressions  cause  it  to  flow  into  one  specific  mode. 
When  the  soul  learns  that  all  variations  are  in  them- 
selves nothing,  and  that  the  true  binding  force  is 
existential  bondage  of  mind,  it  will  place  value  and 
character  only  on  the  fundamental  substance  of  the 
mind.  The  control  of  this  substance  will  come ;  when 
that  comes  all  relativity  vanishes.  The  soul  comes 
into  its  own.  It  realizes  Self.  It  understands  that 
it  alone  is  the  true,  it  alone  the  beautiful,  it  alone 
the  good.  It  will  know  that  all  else  is  falseness,  that 
all  else  is  illusion,  that  all  else  is  ignorance.  This 
state  is  the  fourth  state  of  spiritual  attainment  and 
is  the  supreme  result  of  spiritual  effort.  Beyond 
this  it  is  impossible  to  go.     Infinity  is  beyond  and 


Stages  of  Psychic  Progress.  107 

through  all  things,  and  this  infinity  of  consciousness 
and  of  knowledge  is  reached  when  the  soul  throws 
off  all  mental  shackles,  when  it  unearths  and  destroys 
the  very  foundation  of  the  mind. 

The  mind  is  the  sustaining  element  in  all  this 
illusion  and  indefinite  series  of  birth  and  death. 
To  it  all  the  convolutions  of  relativity  are  to  be  as- 
cribed. To  it  are  tributary  all  conditioned  existence, 
all  imperfection  of  manifestation,  all  exteriorisation 
of  the  soul,  all  apparent  manifoldness,  all  lowness 
and  all  highness,  all  good  and  all  evil,  all  light  and 
all  darkness.  Beyond  the  mind  is  the  eternal,  un- 
changing and  unchangeable  essence  of  the  soul.  Be- 
yond all  this  is  the  ever  free,  the  everlasting,  un- 
qualified and  unqualifying  Self.  It  is  the  reality, 
the  ever-knowing,  the  essence  of  bliss,  the  essence 
of  truth,  the  essence  of  life  and  light. 

Perception  of  unassisted  reason  is  confined  with- 
in the  limitations  of  sensuous  existence.  Mind, 
of  itself,  cannot  even  explain  mind.  Its  lower  phases 
are  warped  in  the  shadows  of  material  density.  They 
act  on  planes  of  inferior  expression,  conditioning  in- 
ferior expression  of  character.  Their  power  of  re- 
sistance to  lower  vibrations  is  weak.  That  is  why  the 
mental  is  largely  expressed  through  physical  inter- 
relations. That  is  why  the  mind  is  related  with  the 
coarse  movements  of  physical  influences.  There  is 
no  hope  for  the  mind  but  in  introspection.  Intro- 
spection is  the  secret  of  this  profound  control  of 
mind  and  body  advancement,  enlightment,  inspira- 
tion, nameless  width  of  consciousness  and  height  of 


108  Stages  of  Psychic  Progress. 

Self-realization.  By  giving  up  phenomenal  reality  of 
mind,  the  soul  is  omniscient.  By  giving  up  finite 
existence,  it  becomes  omniexistent.  By  relinquishing 
the  things  which  seem,  it  realizes  the  things  which 
are,  and  these  things  confirm  the  soul  in  that  incon- 
ceivable peace  of  which  it  is  written :  "Beyond  name 
and  beyond  form,  beyond  conception  and  beyond  life 
and  death  am  I.  For  I  am  Memnon.  For  I  am 
Memnon.  I  am  He  that  calleth  upon  the  Dawn. 
Peace.    Peace.    Peace." 

From  the  fourth  the  soul  proceeds  to  the  fifth  stage 
of  spiritual  progress.  The  fifth  stage  is  freedom 
from  all  impediments,  all  vacillations  of  the  mind,  all 
mental  struggles  and  difficulties.  As  the  mental  is 
in  final  control  of  physical  expression  this  stage  also 
implies  that  the  soul  is  free  from  physical  inequali- 
ties. It  is  above  pain  and  danger.  Mental  and 
physical  vibrations  now  move  in  rhythm;  there  is 
nothing  discordant,  nothing  eccentric,  nothing  contra- 
vibrant.  All  the  motions  of  the  mind  and  of  the 
body  labor  for  the  best  possible  expression  of  the 
entire  personality.  When  such  personalities  come 
into  the  world,  they  embody  the  perfection  of  psychic 
control  and  spiritual  harmony. 

The  soul  is  limited  only  as  its  understanding  is 
limited.  It  falls  prey  to  various  influences  only  as 
its  imperfect  development  renders  it  inappreciative 
of  the  working  factors  of  different  inharmonies,  only 
as  it  is  incapable  of  regulating  itself  to  the  currents 
of  respective  vibrations.  When  it  comes  into  knowl- 
edge of  truth,  it  is  free;  when  it  appreciates  things 


Stages  of  Psychic  Progress.  109 

at  their  true  value,  it  can  regulate  their  course  of 
expression.  That  gives  freedom  from  harmful  in- 
fluences and  changes  the  useless  into  the  serviceable. 
That  is  the  aim  of  psychic  control,  the  perfect  adapta- 
tion of  influences  to  individual  need.  Pain  can  only 
crme  through  ignorance,  for  they  are  co-existent. 
Ignorance  is  the  mother  of  all  the  shadows  of  life,  all 
its  vagaries  and  sorrows.  Ignorance  is  the  curse 
which  can  alone  affect  the  soul,  because  the  soul 
draws  the  veil  of  material  darkness  before  Self. 
With  the  development  of  knowledge  and  its  practical 
relation  to  exigencies  of  the  soul,  all  ignorance  dis- 
appears. Experience  is  for  the  aggrandizement  of 
knowledge.  Knowledge  is  serviceable  only  as  it  widens 
the  emotional  and  sympathetic  area.  There  is  no 
better  way  of  gaining  health  than  in  wishing  health 
to  others.  There  is  no  better  way  of  becoming  quiet 
than  in  wishing  peace  to  others.  What  we  give,  we 
keep.  What  we  hold  fast,  we  lose.  This  paradox 
finds  its  truth  in  the  fact  that  all  things  move  in 
circles.  What  has  a  beginning  returns  to  that  be- 
ginning. It  radiates  its  influence  and  then  returns 
to  the  source.  The  source  is  the  mind.  The  mind 
radiates  peace,  strength,  joy  to  all  life,  and  the 
response  is  according.  The  calm  with  which  the 
mind  sends  the  thought  of  calm  into  the  universe, 
returns  with  added  force  and  influence.  This  is  the 
manner  of  harmonizing  personal  vibrations.  The 
effort  proceeds  from  the  personality ;  the  result  of  the 
effort  returns  to  the  personality.  For  this  reason 
many   of   the    world's    sages    have    daily    repeated: 


110  Stages  of  Psychic  Progress. 

"Peace  be  unto  all  things.  Let  all  beings  be  happy; 
let  all  beings  be  peacful ;  let  all  beings  be  blissful." 
In  saying  this  they  turn  to  the  four  quarters  of 
space.  The  influence  of  their  holy  desire  is  sent  forth 
to  all  the  planes  of  being  and  into  all  the  different 
phases  of  life. 

The  sixth  accomplishment  of  psychic  effort  is  deep- 
est penetration  into  the  nature  of  the  mind.  All 
other  accomplishments  are  less  and  have  served  only 
as  leading  to  this  supreme  attainment.  The  mind  is 
solvable  into  its  casual  elements;  the  instrument 
through  which  consciousness  expresses  itself  is  capa- 
ble of  a  disintegration.  The  mind  has  been  the  lamp 
apportioning  the  light  of  consciousness  and  reflecting 
its  rays  in  the  world  of  phenomena.  The  mind  has 
been  the  conditioning  factor  through  which  objective 
life  manifested.  When  the  mind  returns  to  its  causal 
nature,  all  manifested  life  vanishes.  The  mind  is 
the  highest  conduit  for  the  manifestation  of  the  soul. 
Yet  the  mind  is  formed  out  of  the  universal  material 
constituting  the  background  of  all  phenomena.  The 
only  difference  is  that  the  mind,  composed  of  rarest 
conceivable  material  particles,  is  more  durable  than 
mightiest  physical  aggregations.  The  body  is  subject 
to  destruction  at  each  passing  of  the  soul  from  life 
to  life,  but  the  mind  is  not.  It  changes  and  changes, 
and  the  various  changes  which  it  experiences  reha- 
bilitates its  essence  and  activity  so  that  it  is  not 
destroyed  when  the  body  is  destroyed.  The  same 
mind  substance  accompanies  the  soul  through  its 
many  lives.    The  truth  concerning  the  mind  is  easily 


Stages  of  Psychic  Progress.  Ill 

perceived  when  the  soul  realizes  that  the  mind  is  not 
consciousness.  That  is  the  elementary  fact  in  the 
education  of  psychic  consciousness.  Without  it  no 
great  achievement  is  possible.  Consciousness  has  rid 
itself  of  the  notion  that  it  is  the  body;  it  has  also 
rid  itself  of  the  idea  that  it  is  the  desire  element. 
It  is  more  difficult  for  consciousness  to  rid  itself  of 
the  notion  that  it  is  not  the  mind,  for  consciousness 
is  absorbed  in  mental  activity.  It  requires  deep  philo- 
sophical concentration,  deep  psychic  introspection,  to 
arrive  at  a  contrary  understanding.  Consciousness, 
in  its  final  meaning,  cannot  be  identified  with  the 
states  of  relative  existence.  The  nature  of  conscious- 
ness is  immeasurably  superior  to  the  nature  of  the 
mind.  Just  as  the  Infinite  Being  is  none  of  the 
single  states  of  relative  mind,  so  no  indefinite  aggre- 
gation of  such  states  could  complete  His  infinite  con- 
sciousness. The  purpose  of  psychic  effort  is  to  know 
that  the  soul  has  nothing  to  do  with  these  little  claims 
of  relative  life.  It  is  above  them.  To  identify  con- 
sciousness with  separate  mental  states  would  mean 
that  consciousness  is  on  their  level,  that  it  is  existen- 
tially  imperfect  and  that  is  the  greatest  of  untruths. 
At  the  bottom  of  this  relative  life  stands  the  mind. 
By  the  mind  is  meant  not  only  that  relative  mind 
which  constitutes  the  working  factor  of  normal  brain 
consciousness,  but  also  that  indefiniteness  of  mental 
existence  beyond  and  beneath  normal  brain  conscious- 
ness. There  are  also  those  numberless  phases  of  mind 
which  give  the  necessary  stimulus  to  the  totality  of 
potential  existence  reaching  beyond  this  present  mani- 


112  Stages  of  Psychic  Progress. 

festation  into  other  manifestations  beneath  the  sur- 
face and  beyond  any  memory  of  the  present.  Even 
as  the  individual  is  working  through  the  body,  even 
as  he  digests  his  food,  pumps  the  blood  through  the 
circulatory  system  and  works  the  respiratory  and 
other  functional  systems,  even  as  he  controls  all  the 
voluntary  movements  of  the  body,  so  the  individual 
is  also  the  author  and  dispenser  of  his  mental  ex- 
pression. Some  speak  of  nature,  but  nature  is  a  far- 
fetched word.  One  thing  is  certain;  the  mind  has 
an  all-potent  influence  on  the  body ;  consciousness  in- 
fluences the  body.  The  mind  may  disturb  the  di- 
gestive system;  it  may  even  shatter  the  brain  and 
kill  the  body.  Mind-power  is  the  radiation  of  the 
most  forcibly  expressive  substance  in  the  universe 
and  mind  is  the  instrument  of  consciousness.  It  ie 
consciousness  which,  through  aeons  of  evolutionary 
progression,  has  built  up  this  body  and  this  bundle 
of  nerves.  It  is  consciousness  which  has  built  up  this 
mind,  allowing  it  fulness  and  variety  of  expression. 
In  the  beginning  the  mental  substance  existed  in  an 
homogenous  manner.  Each  individual  soul  has  ab- 
sorbed its  respective  portion  of  this  substance,  and 
in  this  absorption  the  homogenous  mental  substance 
became  heterogenous.  The  mind  is  of  itself  non- 
existent. Its  phenomenal  existence  is  due  to  the  con- 
ditioning of  consciousness.  Consciousness,  as  it  were, 
externalizes  itself.  Through  this  externalisation  the 
phenomenal  world  is  born.  As  consciousness  is  ever 
free  and  unconditioned,  so  the  separate  expressions 
of  consciousness  enjoy  a  nominal  independence  from 


Stages  of  Psychic  Progress.  113 

other  portions  of  consciousness  and  from  the  entirety 
of  consciousness  as  such.  But  this  independence  is 
only  seeming.  When  the  mind  finally  understands 
that  there  is  something  superior  to  mind  to  which  it 
is  tributary,  all  these  separate  states  lose  their  ap- 
parent individuality,  fading  into  the  uncncompassable 
and  all-containing  fulness  of  everlasting  conscious- 
ness. 

The  mind  is  the  instrument  of  all  mental  expres- 
sion. It  is  the  source  of  language  and  of  thought. 
Yet  each  and  every  object,  each  and  every  thought, 
each  and  every  mental  expression,  besides  its  mental 
meaning  possesses  a  value  in  consciousness.  This  is 
what  is  meant  in  the  statement  that  the  soul  is  the 
essence  of  knowledge.  The  soul  does  not  think. 
When  it  has  attained  to  realization,  it  knows  that  it 
is  the  essence  of  thought.  Being  the  essence  of 
thought,  it  is  equally  the  undivided  essence  of  all 
things  which  come  under  the  investigation  of  thought, 
and  that  is  this  entire  universe.  This  thought  leads 
to  seventh  and  final  and  highest  phase  of  psychic 
effort. 

Glory  and  power  to  him  who  is  master  of  his 
nature,  who  is  master  of  his  mind,  who  is  the  master 
of  the  Law.  Peace  to  him  who  has  come  out  of  the 
nature  of  man  and  in  and  out  of  the  nature  of  the 
god  into  the  consciousness  of  universal  life  and  light. 
Such  is  the  inconceivable  state  of  the  world-honored 
ones.  They  who  have  passed  into  and  beyond  Self 
are  in  essence  nameless,  blessed  and  formless.  All 
this  psychic  effort  has  been  for  the  purpose  of  show- 


114  Stages  of  Psychic  Progress. 

ing  the  soul  its  true  nature.  Nature  has  taught  that 
body  is  not  soul,  that  mind  is  not  soul  and  that  alone 
is  soul  which  gives  character  and  life  and  meaning 
to  relative  life.  Nature  has  taught  that  thought  is 
matter,  that  everything  from  thought  down  is  con- 
ditioned. He  who  has  seen  the  truth  is  free.  He 
who  has  realized  truth,  is  blessed.  He  who  merges 
his  nature  into  the  nature  of  truth,  is  the  truth,  the 
way  and  the  life.  The  goal  of  life  is  eternal  life ;  the 
result  of  all  effort,  the  fruition  of  eternal  peace  and 
bliss.  Beyond  all  relativity,  beyond  the  largest  and 
the  smallest,  consciousness  is  transcendent.  It  no 
longer  identifies  itself  with  mind  or  body.  It  is 
alone  concerned  with  the  enjoyment  of  eternal  beati- 
tude. But  this  beatitude  must  not  be  construed  as 
being  the  reward  of  finite  effort.  That  is  impossible. 
There  is  no  eternal  heaven  for  temporal  effort.  The 
soul  is  only  relatively  free,  even  in  the  abodes  of 
merit  whither  the  disincarnate  go.  The  heavens  of 
merit  are  passing.  The  Christ  said:  "Heaven  and 
earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my  words  shall  not  pass 
away."  Truth  is  unchangeable  and  everlasting. 
Truth  must  flood  the  soul  with  its  all-saving  power 
before  the  soul  can  call  itself  divine.  Science  and 
reason  have  corrected  endless  errors  in  sense  per- 
ception. Unassisted  by  the  light  of  science,  men 
would  still  be  calling  the  earth  flat,  the  moon  self- 
luminating,  the  sky  a  solid  vault,  the  stars,  small 
points  of  light.  The  mind,  to  accomplish  the  best 
results  and  to  understand  the  nature  of  the  senses, 
should  concentrate  upon  these  errors,  for  thereby  a 


Stages  of  Psychic  Progress.  115 

proper  value  of  sense  life  is  had.  "A  wise  man  sees 
so  many  false  things  in  those  which  are  called  true; 
so  many  disgusting  things  in  those  which  are  called 
pleasant ;  and  so  much  misery  in  what  is  called  happi- 
ness, that  he  turns  away  with  disgust."  In  the  high- 
est of  positions,  in  the  most  exalted  phases  of  being, 
the  soul  sees  nothing  but  transiency  and  misery. 
Misery  is  the  shadow  which  pursues  pleasure.  Pleas- 
ure is  ephemeral  and  desire  is  ever  born  anew. 
Nothing  ,  indeed,  can  satisfy  the  everlasting  soul  but 
the  revelation  of  its  own  nature.  The  soul  goes 
through  all  the  infinite  variations  of  relative  life  in 
its  search  after  happiness  and  realizes  that  happiness 
is  not  to  be  found  anywhere  save  in  its  innermost 
nature.  Desire  is  expressed  in,  "May  this  be  mine" 
in,  "May  I  not  be  this."  In  this  expression  the  mind 
is  enslaved.  The  soul  is  essentially  above  all  wants. 
It  is  self-sufficient  because  it  is  all-pervading  and 
all-  containing.  The  soul  does  not  cry  for  anything. 
Being  all  in  all  it  wishes  nothing  of  separate  char- 
acter or  condition.  To  rid  itself  of  these  vagaries, 
these  airy  nothings  of  the  senses,  the  soul  must  apply 
the  method  of  discrimination.  Then  it  knows  that  it 
is  existentially  different  from  the  objects  of  the  senses 
and  that  it  is  their  conditioning  factor.  In  all  the 
categories  of  sensuous  existence  the  soul  realizes  that 
Spirit,  the  soul  of  the  soul,  is  not  to  be  classified.  The 
soul,  entranced  by  the  vision  of  Self,  can  say,  "This  is 
Spirit."  Otherwise  it  cannot  say  that  anything  is 
Spirit,  for  Spirit  is  above  all  finite  things.  In  realiz- 
ation the  soul  knows :  "I  am  that  which  manifests  the 


116  Stages  of  Psychic  Progress. 

operations  of  the  understanding.  I  am  the  eye-wit- 
ness of  the  understanding.  Yet  am  I  different  from 
the  understanding.  I  am  the  all-pervading.  I  am  the 
unchangeable.     I  am  the  ever-living." 

There  are  many  ways  of  conceiving  the  conditions 
of  the  finite  in  its  relations  to  the  Infinite  and  the 
relations  of  the  Infinite  to  the  finite.  One  of  the  most 
lucid  interpretations  is  the  symbolism  of  the  jar. 
The  jar  of  the  soul  has  form  through  Spirit  which 
faces  to  all  the  quarters  of  space.  The  vacuum  in  the 
jar  is  the  vacuum  of  Spirit.  Truly  the  relations  be- 
tween Spirit  and  the  universe  are  subtile.  The  source 
and  the  sustaining  element  of  the  jar  is  Spirit.  At 
dissolution  the  jar  resolves  into  its  causal  elements. 
Thus  the  abiding  and  ultimate  reality  of  sub- 
stance is  Spirit.  As  the  spider  weaves  its  web  from 
the  very  substance  of  its  body,  so  Spirit,  from  Its 
own  substance,  has  spun  this  universe.  "In  Him 
we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being."  Spirit  of 
itself  neither  moves  nor  changes.  All  these  external 
motions,  so  seemingly  real,  come  under  the  heading 
of  the  operations  of  the  understanding.  Reality  im- 
plies unchangeableness.  This  cannot  be  said  of  the 
world  of  phenomena.  Consequently  the  soul  alone  is 
to  be  meditated  upon,  its  realization  to  be  desired, 
its  light  alone  to  shine  forth.  "He  shining,  every- 
thing else  shines." 

In  separation  is  misery;  in  separation,  separate 
existence.  The  identification  of  soul  with  the  various 
adjectives  of  relative  manifestation  is  the  cause  of 
bondage.    Such  adjectives  are  expressive  of  joy,  grief, 


Stages  of  Psychic  Progress.  117 

anger,  desire,  infatuation,  inebriation,  envy,  self-im- 
portance, covetousness,  sleep,  indolence,  lust  and  other 
passions.  As  stated  in  the  Sankhya  Sara,  Sec.  9, 
soul  must  affirm:  "I  am  all-pervading,  pacific,  the 
total  of  pure  spirit,  pure,  the  inconceivable,  simple 
life,  pure  vacuum,  undecayable,  unmixed,  boundless, 
without  qualities,  untroubled,  unchangeable,  the  mir- 
ror in  which  all  is  seen,*  and  through  my  union  to  all 
souls,  the  displayer  of  all  things.  Not  being  different 
in  nature,  I  am  every  living  creature,  from  Brahma, 
Vishnu,  and  Maheswara,  down  to  inanimate  matter. 
I  and  all  living  creatures  are  one  (in  essence)  ;  like  the 
vacuum  we  are  life ;  therefore  we  are  taught  to  medi- 
tate on  spirit  as  one."  All  these  qualities  of  Spirit 
have  each  a  boundless  significance.  The  qualities  in 
the  operations  of  the  understanding  also  have  their 
appropriate  significance,  for  herein  are  expressed  the 
wide  latitudes  extant  between  the  man  of  attainment 
and  the  man  of  illusion.  Equality,  misapplied  in  the 
realm  of  politics  and  philosophy,  has  meaning  when 
ascribed  to  the  essence  of  Spirit,  one  and  all-uniting. 
In  the  recognition  of  spiritual  inequality  a  large  per 
cent,  of  the  mind's  vain  operations  are  to  be  classified. 
It  is  the  nature  of  the  mind  to  struggle  to  reach  a 
level  beyond  it  and  this  is  the  origin  of  ambition. 
Spirit  is  neither  high  nor  low.  There  is  but  One 
"Who  is  high.  In  ambition  discord  is  born  and 
discord  breeds  eccentricity  of  emotions  constituting 
the  immoral.  The  thought  of  spiritual  unity  and 
equality  instils  a  transcendent  love  for  all  mani- 
festations of  Spirit,  for  the  entire  universe.     The 


118  Stages  of  Psychic  Progress. 

most  miserable  and  the  seemingly  most  unworthy  are 
folded  close  beneath  the  soft  wings  of  the  divine 
motherhood  of  Spirit.  The  innumerable  variations 
of  social  life  are  nothingnesses  in  the  supreme  vision 
of  Spirit.  They  are  vacuum-formed  and  vacuum- 
lived.  They  are  like  shadows  on  the  crystal  sea  of 
existence,  which  does  not  in  essence  change,  though 
the  shadows  are  numberless  and  prodigious.  The 
understanding,  with  its  operations,  is  as  a  dancer 
changing  her  appearance,  costume  and  pantomime 
with  each  shade  of  technique.  The  understanding, 
simple  in  essence  and  activity,  loses  its  simplicity,  be- 
coming complex  through  association  and  identification 
with  physical,  mental  and  psychic  life.  To  return 
to  that  pristine  simplicity  to  and  the  pure  existence  of 
Spirit  is  the  task  which  lies  before  each  soul.  The 
mighty,  unbroken  flow  of  consciousness  must  stream 
through  all  the  obstacles  of  material  and  mental 
existence  into  the  depths  of  universal  knowledge, 
existence  and  beatitude.  The  actor  assumes  various 
animal  skins,  impersonating  the  habits  and  instincts 
of  different  animals.  It  is  an  impersonation.  The 
understanding  adopts  all  these  various  impersona- 
tions, and  it  is  these  impersonations  which  qualify  the 
soul  in  the  belief  of  manifold  existence. 

The  existential  features  of  Spirit  are  eternality, 
intelligence  and  happiness.  These  are  the  character- 
istics of  truth  and  reality.  They  are  expressive  of 
the  unconditioned,  of  the  absolute,  of  the  free  and  of 
the  infinite.  The  soul  has  been  proceeding  forward 
and  forward  into  manifestation.    It  is  time  to  recede. 


Stages  of  Psychic  Progress.  119 

Before  it  is  nothing  but  the  desert  of  opinion,  the 
desert  of  change,  the  desert  of  desire,  the  desert  of 
sorrow.  Before  it  is  the  wilderness  of  complexity,  of 
quality,  of  mirages.  Falsehood  and  hypocrisy  have 
lighted  their  lamps  and  claim  self-illumination.  They 
are  the  ignis  fatuus  which  lights  the  way  of  the 
foolish  and  ignorant.  The  source  of  true  light  is  the 
source  of  truth  itself,  the  essence  of  truth,  the  glory 
of  truth,  the  all-encompassing  beauty,  sublimity,  om- 
niscience and  omnipotence  of  truth. 

That  which  in  its  very  nature  is  illusory,  cannot 
be  called  real.  It  cannot  be  said  that  illusion  is  either 
real  or  unreal.  Real  it  is  in  a  phenomenal  sense. 
Beyond  phenomena,  it  is  essentially  unreal.  There- 
fore we  can  say  neither  aye  nor  nay.  When  one  comes 
into  the  light  and  into  the  truth,  the  darkness  of 
ignorance  is  scattered,  the  radiant  sun  of  truth  shines, 
the  day  of  understanding  and  of  direct  perception 
has  dawned.  He  no  longer  is  bound.  He  is  free, 
Freedom  is  now  his  nature.  He  is  all-knowing.  Om 
niscience  is  now  his  nature.  He  is  perfect.  Perfec 
tion  is  the  essence  of  divinity,  and  the  soul  is  divine 
When  truth  shines  forth,  error  has  taken  flight, 
Relative  truth  is  to  ignorance  as  a  brilliant  light  is 
to  a  waste  of  darkness.  But  all-containing  truth  is 
like  a  sea  of  light,  and  beyond  that  sea  is  nothing, 
for  the  sea  is  present  in  every  shade  and  phase, — an 
ocean  of  universal  light.  The  mental  spectrum  is  a 
bright  and  clear  mirror  on  which  all  knowledge  is  re- 
flected according  to  the  will  and  the  disposition  of  the 
soul.     Illusion  and  wisdom  may  be  compared  to  the 


120  Stages  of  Psychic  Progress. 

blindness  of  some  animals.  Take,  for  exampie,  the 
owl.  In  the  glory  of  the  sunlight  the  owl  is  blind. 
To  the  owl,  the  light  of  day  is  darkness.  The  night, 
the  darkness,  is  its  condition  of  sight.  Similarly 
many  see  only  in  the  night  of  ignorance  and  super- 
stition and  are  blind  in  the  very  presence  of  all  radi- 
ant light.  Our  birth-right  is  the  upper  world,  the 
world  which  is  the  reality  of  all  worlds,  the  world  of 
the  day,  the  world  of  intelligence.  As  long  as  men 
sojourn  in  the  midst  of  darkness  and  in  this  vale  of 
tears  they  cannot  expect  any  glimpse  of  truth  beyond 
the  outermost  phases  of  this  condition.  Selfishness 
and  ignorance  are  co-existent.  The  one  is  comple- 
ment to  the  other.  Ignorance  gives  so  much  import- 
ance to  this  fleeting  ego  which  constantly  repeats :  "I 
am  small.  I  am  sick.  I  am  weak.  I  am  conditioned. 
I  am  great.  I  am  happy.  I  am  this  or  I  am  that." 
The  condition  of  this  illusion  is  oneness.  Differen- 
tiated and  individualized  it  appears  as  many,  resem- 
bling the  one  sun  mirrored  as  many  in  various  pools 
of  water.  Universalized,  this  illusion  is  the  potential 
and  active  energy  of  the  Supreme.  Individualized, 
this  illusion  is  the  potential  and  active  energy  of  the 
individual  souls.  The  state  of  activity  is  ever  the  state 
of  imperfection,  finiteness,  instability  and  uneven- 
ness.  The  state  of  potentiality,  is  the  condition  of 
the  highest  power,  truth  and  intelligence.  To  bring 
this  state  of  activity  into  a  condition  of  silence,  bring 
this  ever-chagning  state  into  a  state  of  immutability, 
this  discordance  into  a  condition  of  perpetual  har- 
mony, is  the  business  of  life.     Xo  matter  if  we  fail 


Stages  of  Psychic  Progress.  121 

in  this  particular  life.  The  ideal  may  be  realized 
in  another  life.  Progression  is  in  never  looking  too 
far  ahead,  nor  behind. 

The  very  end  and  aim  of  psychic  effort  is  the  plac- 
ing of  full  importance  where  it  is  needed.  The  full 
importance  of  mental  states  must  be  realized.  That 
is  the  secret  of  all  this  bodily  and  mental  activity.  It 
is  not  alone  the  secret  of  these  things,  but  of  all  the 
phenomena  in  the  universe.  Knowing  one  piece  of 
clay,  the  entire  nature  of  clay  is  known.  Acquainted 
with  the  qualities  of  the  mind,  we  know  the  mind 
itself ;  in  other  words,  we  become  knowers  of  this  uni- 
verse. All  is  the  variation  of  one  mind-substance. 
Gaining  control  of  this  is  gaining  control  of  the  entire 
personality.  In  the  midst  of  ignorance,  the  soul, 
blessed  with  realization,  shines  forth.  Yet  there  are 
few  who  appreciate  the  light  of  the  Perfect  Ones. 
Clothed  with  physical  vesture,  men  are  incapable  of 
discerning  the  hidden  power  and  bliss,  knowledge 
and  divine  essence  of  Him  who  has  entered  into  the 
innermost  sanctuary  of  his  nature,  who  has  reached 
through  and  through  himself  and  found  in  the  veriest 
depths  of  his  own  soul  that  light  and  life  which  he 
exteriorised  and  worshipped  as  God.  There  is  no 
God  but  He  Who  is  the  real  essence  of  man;  no 
divine  essence,  but  the  divine  essence  of  the  soul  of 
man.  No  worship  is  to  be  paid  except  to  him  who 
is  the  Self  of  the  self  of  man.  Disbelief  in  God  is 
not  so  bad  as  disbelief  in  one's  self.  Man  can  believe 
in  God  only  by  first  believing  in  himself.  Belief  in 
the   sanctity,   the   divinity,   the   immortality   of   its 


122  Stages  of  Psychic  Progress. 

nature,  will  exalt  the  soul.  Spirit  becomes  meaning- 
ful and  transcendent  in  the  light  of  true  self-appre- 
ciation. 

Without  the  complete  renovation  of  antiquated 
ideas  concerning  the  nature  of  mind,  without  giving 
up  the  old  and  inconsequential  idea  of  the  influence 
and  form  of  thought,  we  can  never  hope  to  get  much 
beyond  the  exterior  perception  with  which  the  mind 
is  normally  concerned.  It  is  well  enough  to  adapt  the 
mind  to  symbols,  but  deeper  than  symbolism  and  its 
effect  on  the  imaginative  and  emotional  faculties  is 
the  conscious  perception  of  truth  and  its  effect  of 
calm  and  peace,  self-conquest  and  control,  psychic 
knowledge  and  power  on  the  soul.  The  pathway  to 
the  Ideal  leads  beyond  the  Ideal  into  realism  of  mar- 
velous unfoldment,  and  beyond  this,  into  the  very 
constituencies  of  soul,  its  mystery  and  the  solution 
of  its  mystery. 


PHYSICAL   KELATIONS. 


CHAPTEE   VI. 


PHYSICAL   RELATIONS. 


In  the  contemplation  of  physical  unfoldment,  the 
mind  is  awe-struck  with  the  solemnity  of  existence. 
There  is  nothing  but  life,  life  infinite  and  eternal, 
endless,  nameless  and  unspeakable,  and  these  innu- 
merable lives  are  but  variations  of  that  infinite  life 
which  stands  back  of  every  separate  life  as  its  vivify- 
ing center  and  sustaining  source.  All  are  as  wavelets 
in  the  vast,  unindividualized,  impersonal  ocean  of 
existence.  The  universal,  all-pervading  life  has  its 
first  individualization  in  the  manifestation  of  un- 
thinkable numbers  of  individual  particles,  projections 
of  its  substance,  the  essence  of  light  and  heat.  These 
partializations  are  the  supplying  source  of  atomic  and 
molecular  life.  These  are  the  real  builders  of  the 
universe,  supplying  the  composing  substance  through 
which  form  takes  expression.  All  life,  all  manifesta- 
tion, from  the  largest  sun  to  the  minutest  atom,  has 
its  "soul"  in  the  soul  of  all  material  substrate,  the 
vivifying  central  life.  In  a  physical  sense,  the  great 
condensations  of  matter,  as  suns,  are  absorbing  more 
of  this  central  life  than  other  bodies.  Then,  too, 
more  of  those  "fiery"  lives,  the  first  differentiation  of 
homogenous  substance,  are  acting  upon  these  vast 
bodies,  giving  them  radiance,  brilliance  and  stupen- 


126  Physical  Relations. 

dousness  of  form.  Each  physical  form  or  condition 
has  its  peculiar  method  of  absorbing  this  central  life. 
The  vast  bodies  obtain  their  sustenance  and  abiding 
power  from  the  "fiery"  lives  direct.  The  subordinate 
bodies,  which  these  larger  bodies  rule,  obtain  their 
formation  by  severance  from  the  larger  bodies.  Then 
these  subordinate  bodies  exteriorize  their  potential 
vitality,  and  undifferentiated  vitality  commences  dif- 
ferentiating itself,  continues  and  continues.  Again, 
the  differentiated  particles  continue  to  distribute 
themselves  becoming  ancestors  to  other  differentiated 
particles.  This  condition  endures  and  endures  until 
the  vitality  has  spent  its  last  manifesting  force. 
There,  then,  commences  the  re-absorption  of  all  this 
force,  the  disintegration  of  evolution.  The  differen- 
tiated becomes  gradually  less  and  less  differentiated, 
continuing  and  continuing  until  the  absolutely  homo- 
genous, from  which  all  differentiation  was  specialized, 
is  reached.  It  is  the  beginning,  the  drawing  and  the 
closing  of  the  circle,  composed  of  numberless  smaller 
circles,  all  revolving  within  the  major  circle.  This 
is  the  story  of  manifestation  of  terrestrial  life.  In 
this  differentiation  is  included  the  manifestation  of 
form,  human,  animal,  vegetal,  mineral,  and  chem- 
ical. All  proceed  from  the  evolution  of  a  severed 
portion  of  a  sun.  This  severance  is  brought  about  by 
the  over-crowded  activity  of  too  many  "fiery"  lives. 
The  heat  they  impart,  by  the  centripetal  and  centrif- 
ugal process,  reaches  a  definite  point  of  condensation, 
when  the  aggregated  mass  can  no  longer  hold  together 
its  constituent  parts,  and  a  portion  or  portions  fall 


Physical  Eolations.  127 

asunder,  giving  birth  to  worlds  which  come  under  its 
province  of  heat,  motion  and  light.  That  is  the  story 
of  the  solar  system. 

This  departure  from  the  study  of  sense  perception 
is  necessary,  in  order  to  show  the  freedom  of  soul 
from  bondage  of  matter,  and  to  show  the  non-existence 
of  matter,  a  truth  which  bears  direct  and  important 
relation  to  sense  perception,  because  it  tells  what  all 
this  which  the  senses  perceive  is — nothing.  If  the 
senses  perceive  anything  in  the  outer  arrangement  it 
can  be  life  and  life  only.  All  individualizations  of 
matter  are  projections  of  intelligence  and  life.  What 
we  believe  to  be  the  sun  is  the  exteriorization  of  the 
substance  of  a  supreme  being,  an  archangel,  one  of  the 
great  Lords  of  Life.  All  these  stars  and  suns,  all 
these  solar  bodies  are  cosmic  intelligences  who  have 
dominion  over  subordinate  planets  and  impart  life 
and  light  to  them.  The  earth  is  a  spirit  from  whose 
soul  substance  all  the  lives  on  earth  proceed.  But 
this  is  going  beyond  the  immediate  phase  of  this  dis- 
cussion. 

All  that  the  senses  perceive  is  unreal.  The  ques- 
tion arises,  what,  then,  is  this  which  falls  within  the 
area  of  perception  ?  It  is  a  delusion.  The  question 
arises,  how  and  why  is  this  delusion  ?  That  question 
is  unanswerable.  It  is  as  impossible  of  analysis  as 
Self.  The  only  solution  is  that  in  the  essence  of  the 
soul  all  externality  lies,  as  the  self-generated  cause 
and  effect. 

In  all  sense  perception,  there  is  an  afferent  and  an 
efferent  action.     In  this  the  nervous  system  is  the 


128  Physical  Eolations. 

conditioning  factor.  I  am  looking  at  a  painting.  The 
outer  stimuli  are  presented  to  the  mind  through 
the  action  of  afferent  nerves.  The  sensory  nerves 
carry  the  image  to  the  brain  and  in  the  reac- 
tion of  the  brain,  it  is  held,  the  painting  has  origin. 
There  is  no  painting  on  the  wall.  All  that  we 
know  of  the  external  condition  is  what  our  sensa- 
tions tell  us,  and  our  sensations  are  internal  and  have 
a  mental  connection.  In  spiritual  philosophy,  this 
universe  is  in  the  mind.  There  are,  of  course,  certain 
laws  which  cause  the  mind  to  receive  any  number  of 
specialized  sensations  in  a  special  order.  Not  alone 
that,  but  these  specialized  sensations  are  specialized 
and  perceived  by  a  number  of  intelligences  in  the 
same  order.  Now,  how  is  this?  This  law  which 
particularizes  sensations  so  that  they  are  carried  to  a 
number  of  minds  in  the  same  order  is  conditioned  by 
what  are  called  "planes  of  being."  Planes  of  being 
are  certain  states  of  consciousness  of  a  special  varia- 
bleness through  which  sensations  are  received  in  same- 
ness and  unity  of  order.  Still  there  is  a  certain  vari- 
ableness which  allows  the  conditioned  in  any  special 
state  to  receive  sensations  in  a  particular  degree  of 
intensity,  some  feeling  them  more  than  others,  some 
getting  more  out  of  sensations  than  others.  All  be- 
ings resident  on  the  same  plane  have  similar  cogni- 
zance of  sensation. 

This  order  of  sense  perception  is  the  dividing  point 
between  Self  and  the  cosmos,  Self  and  the  physical. 
The  mind,  occupied  with  its  own  findings,  pays  at- 
tention to  them,  with  the  result  that  farther  vision  is 


Physical  Relations.  129 

excluded  and  it  centralizes,  enlarges  and  determines 
only  one  aspect  of  this  universal  variableness,  the 
outer  physical.  There  are  states  beyond  the  physical 
of  which  the  mind  is  unaware,  because  of  its  blind- 
ness to  aught  save  its  particular  physical  vision.  The 
mind  must  loosen  this  pronouncement  of  effort  and 
vision,  and  allow  it  to  turn  into  other  channels  of  dis- 
cernment. The  physical  has  its  purpose  and  its  value 
in  the  cosmic  order,  and  in  the  relation  of  Self  to  the 
cosmic  order.  Yet  it  is  not  the  all  in  all;  it  is  not 
the  only  viewpoint  of  universal  existence.  The  mind 
is  always  either  undervaluing  or  overvaluing  its  re- 
lations to  the  external.  The  physical  is  indirectly 
bound  to  the  soul ;  it  has  a  religious  importance  out- 
side of  its  own  immediate  sphere  of  activity,  for  body, 
mind,  psychic  nature  and  the  soul  are  indistinguish- 
ably  interrelated  and  co-operative  in  activity.  They 
have  an  influence  upon  each  other  and,  through  each 
other,  upon  themselves.  Everything  in  life  is  in- 
separably blended  with  everything.  Everything  is 
dependent  upon  everything.  Everything  is  so  consti- 
tuted as  to  have  a  gravitative  direction  and  influence 
on  everything  else.  This  is  relevant  to  everything  in 
the  physical  arrangement.  It  is  relevant  to  every- 
thing appertaining  to  the  psychic  order  and  the 
psychic  spheres.  Nothing  in  nature  stands  by  itself. 
It  exists  only  through  an  infinite  contrast  with  all 
other  phenomena.  So  it  is  with  the  attraction  of 
body,  soul  and  mind.  During  the  early  stages  of  de- 
velopment, the  soul  progresses  only  as  the  body  is 
regulated  under  certain  prescriptions.     The  body  is 


130  Physical  Relations. 

highly  organized  and  possesses  great  influence  over 
man's  nature  because  all  the  energies  and  activities 
of  the  mind  have  unintermittently  had  the  body  as 
their  field.  This  control  on  the  part  of  the  physical 
has  to  be  substituted  by  mental  control  and  psychic 
control.  The  initial  step  is  to  bring  the  body  under 
the  sway  of  the  mind  by  regulating  its  desires  and  so 
bring  the  physical  under  the  dominion  of  natural  law. 
The  idea  is  to  make  the  body  relatively  independent 
by  narrowing  the  range  of  its  wants  and  necessities. 
Many  of  the  so-called  necessities  of  life  are  no  neces- 
sities whatever.  Compare  the  physical  requirements 
of  the  savage  with  the  requirements  of  civilized  man. 
The  simple  life  can  never  be  a  success  unless  the 
mind  becomes  more  primitive  in  want  and  desire. 
The  great  teachers  of  psychic  control  were  adepts  in 
this  revaluation  of  physical  need.  They  did  not  in- 
hibit the  functions  of  the  body  by  inanition.  They 
took  no  starvation  course,  but  adapted  themselves  to 
the  requirements  of  natural  law  as  applied  to  the 
human  body.  They  did  not  carry  their  obedience  to 
natural  harmony  to  the  the  point  of  indiscrimination 
or  fanaticism.  They  were  simply  at  oneness  with 
nature.  They  knew  the  value  of  attending  to  bodily 
need.  No  true  teacher  will  publicly  teach  the  indis- 
criminate practice  of  celibacy  or  of  long  fasting  or 
any  of  the  many  other  forms  of  asceticism.  These 
things  are  well  enough  for  ascetics  who  have  enough 
determination  of  will  to  overcome  the  body.  To 
preach  physical  torture  is  to  preach  bodily  and  psychic 
insanity.     Did  the  Christ  preach  and  teach  fanati- 


Physical  Relations.  131 

cism  to  the  public?  He  did  preach  what  might  be 
understood  as  fanaticism  if  applied  to  the  public,  but, 
happily,  His  ascetic  preaching  was  solely  directed  to 
His  apostles  and  disciples.  True,  one  who  wishes 
to  outdistance  the  normal  path  of  psychic  progression 
and  believes  himself  possessed  of  enough  will-power 
to  master  ascetic  practices  can  obtain  perfect  control 
of  the  body  by  limiting  its  wants  to  the  outer  order 
of  life  sustainment.  But  this  should  be  done  under 
the  supervision  of  a  living  teacher,  acquainted  with 
physical  qualities  of  endurance  and  the  indraw- 
ing  and  outbreathing  of  the  life-force.  Much  of 
this  bodily  control  can  be  had  through  the  Delsarte 
system  of  expression.  This  system  is  a  very  imper- 
fect imitation  of  the  grand  Yoga  systems  of  the 
Orient,  particularly  the  Hatha  Yoga,  or  the  Yoga 
referring  to  the  control  of  the  body.  This  body 
yoga  has  nothing  to  do  with  religion.  It  simply  paves 
the  way  to  conscious  control  of  the  involuntary 
muscles  of  the  body  and  the  rebirth  of  atrophied  parts. 
This  signals  the  liberation  of  the  body  from  disease, 
for  the  master  in  these  psycho-physical  practices  can, 
by  certain  movements  of  the  body,  regulate  the  action 
of  the  gastric  juices,  the  motion  of  the  heart  and  the 
general  function  of  the  digestive  and  circulatory 
systems.  Control  of  these  centers  of  physical 
activity  enables  the  practitioner  to  throw  abnormal 
tendencies  into  the  sphere  of  normality  and,  not  only 
that,  but  to  increase  the  abiding  condition  and  qualities 
of  these  functions  to  a  point  where  they  become  super- 
latively even  in  their  regulation  and  movement.   Sick- 


132  Physical  Relations. 

ness  is  the  result  of  the  conflict  of  bodily  motions; 
health,  their  perfect  adjustment.  In  any  effort  to 
progress  in  a  psychic  manner,  it  is  positively  neces- 
sary to  maintain  an  equilibrium  of  the  forces  working 
in  the  body.  The  seeker  after  truth  cannot  be  ham- 
pered in  his  psychic  unfoldment  by  any  physical  in- 
harmony.  Physical  inharmony  has  a  tendency  to  pull 
down  the  mind  and  to  hinder  it  from  proper  concen- 
tration. We  have  instances  where  men  of  great  moral 
and  mental  stamina  have  achieved  spiritual  and 
psychic  greatness  while  laboring  under  great  physical 
stress,  but  the  instances  are  rare.  That  is  why,  in 
all  systems  which  have  Self-knowledge  for  their  cen- 
tral basis,  there  is,  first  of  all,  a  physical  method 
proposed  by  which  the  physical  can  become  thoroughly 
self-established  and  self -active,  regular  in  condition 
and  motion.  But  the  goal  of  all  effort  must  not  be 
confused  with  physical  well-being.  It  has  little,  if 
anything,  to  do  with  it.  If  well-being  and  the  regu- 
larity of  motion  of  physical  forces  were  the  sum  total 
of  all  effort,  then  the  tree  and  the  stone  are  religious. 
Our  day  is  a  day  of  healers  and  healing.  Religion 
is  intimately  related  to  mental  therapeutics.  Until 
the  upholders  of  these  religio-therapeutic  cults  turn 
their  attention  to  religion  and  place  sanatative  values 
in  their  true  meaning,  they  are  not  firmly  established. 
The  body  is  a  mass  of  sentiency  supervised  by  presid- 
ing consciousness.  At  death  the  consciousness  recedes 
to  the  immediately  subjective  plane,  the  psychic 
plane,  and  the  body  appears  to  be  activeless,  lifeless 
and  motionless.     The  very  contrary  is  true.     Never 


Physical  Relations.  133 

is  the  body  in  such  a  high  state  of  activity  as  at  dis- 
integration. Disintegration  is  as  specialized  a  motion 
of  life  as  the  organic  activities  continuously  carried 
on  while  the  body  is  inhabited  by  consciousness.  This 
disintegration  is  a  whirl  of  manifestation.  Con- 
sciousness is  the  controlling  energy  of  life,  drawing 
the  internal  and  external  activities  of  the  body  within 
the  sphere  of  its  conscious  and  sub-conscious  desire. 
When  consciousness  is  withdrawn  all  the  cell-lives, 
all  atomic  and  molecular  lives  lose  their  integrated 
character  and  become  a  seething  vortex  of  uncon- 
trolled lives.  They  no  longer  work  in  regular  order. 
They  have  become  segregated  and  the  body  which  was 
formed  through  their  co-ordinate  activity,  gradually 
dissolves  as  these  minute  lives  associate  themselves 
with  the  respective  bodily,  vegetal  or  mineral  sub- 
stance for  which  their  activity  calls.  "Death  is  but 
another  aspect  of  life,  and  the  destruction  of  one 
material  is  but  a  prelude  to  the  building  up  of  an- 
other." Our  bodies  are  a  mass  of  life,  appearing  in- 
organic because  of  the  limited  sense  of  vision,  which, 
unassisted  by  microscopic  instruments,  is  unable  to 
detect  the  aggregated  infinitesimal  lives  which  form 
separate  cells.  Men  cannot  readily  understand  how 
all  that  is  presumed  to  be  inorganic  is,  in  reality, 
highly  constituted  life,  imperceptible  to  normal  vi- 
sion. All  that  science  can  do  is  to  approve  the  aeon- 
old  theories  of  spiritual  science.  The  theory  of 
atomic  life  was  once  ridiculed  as  impossible.  Now  it 
is  the  very  basis  of  bacteriology  and  that  department 
of  medicine  which  deals  with  parasitic  and  blood  dis- 


134  Physical  Relations. 

cases.  Until  recently  it  was  thought  that  bacteria  and 
other  lives  which  were  discovered  in  the  body  were 
"abnormal  visitors"  and  the  cause  of  disease.  They 
were  identified  as  disease  germs.  Now,  however, 
more  concerning  them  is  known.  Not  only  are  there 
disease  germs  in  the  body,  but  armies  and  armies  of 
health  germs  which  labor  for  the  upbuilding  and  pro- 
vidence of  the  body.  Cicatrices  on  wounds,  scars, 
callosities  and  kindred  physical  conditions  are  the 
work  of  these  armies  of  life  savers.  There  is  always 
this  duality,  this  struggle  between  health  and  disease 
microbes,  and  we  can  assist  the  former  by  adapting 
our  bodily  habits  so  that  they  can  more  readily  and 
more  effectively  do  the  work  of  restoration  and  the 
fighting-off  of  disease.  If  we  recover  from  serious 
illness,  we  have  not  only  our  physician  to  thank,  but 
also  these  innumerable  and  infinitesimal  workers  who 
are  always  at  work  in  our  behalf.  If  we  become 
masters  in  psychic  control  or  if  we  become  self-con- 
trolled through  the  concentrative  method,  we  can 
immeasurably  aid  these  little  lives  whose  existence  is 
occupied  with  the  arrangement  of  our  lives. 

Esotericism,  more  alive  to  truth  than  the  high 
material  science,  recognizes  life  in  every  form  and 
condition  of  the  universal  order.  It  sees  a  life  in  the 
fire,  in  the  water,  in  the  earth,  in  the  air,  everywhere. 
It  sees  individualized  lives  in  the  numberless  atoms 
which  form  these  elements.  Life  is  a  marvel  of 
marvels,  an  ever-recurring  wonder,  an  everlasting 
procession  of  life  eternal.  Those  who  pride  them- 
selves on  our  modern-day  sciences  are  as  children  in 


Physical  Relations.  135 


comparison  with  those  men  who  thought  out 
things  ages  before  there  was  human  habitation  in  the 
lands  of  Europe.  There  is  nothing  new  under  the 
sun.  All  acquired  knoweldge  is  only  a  new  presenta- 
tion of  truths  older  than  time  itself.  For  all  truth, 
like  all  life,  is  eternal. 

The  physical  control  which  the  culture  of  Self- 
knowledge  imposes  is  far  beyond  the  classification  of 
any  health  cult.  It  is  more  psychological  than  thera- 
peutical. It  is  mental  rather  than  physical.  The 
aim  of  Self-knowledge  is  knowledge  of  every  condi- 
tion which  bears  any  relation  to  the  higher  interests 
of  the  soul.  Control  must  be  exercised  from  the 
ground  up,  so  to  speak.  Everything  that  pertains  to 
the  personality  must  be  properly  adjusted  and  bal- 
anced. The  higher  harmonies  are  always  based  on 
the  lower,  and  the  climax  of  attainment  is  the  climax 
of  all  the  harmonies  which,  in  degree  of  growth  and 
circumference,  make  the  summit  of  harmony.  The 
ultimum  of  attainment  through  Self-knowledge  may 
be  compared  to  a  grand  symphony,  when  every  varia- 
tion of  sound  is  perfectly  interblended,  when  every 
note  is  true  and  every  modulation,  the  acme  of 
technical  perfection.  The  physical  must  not  be  un- 
derestimated. It,  too,  has  its  relation  to  the  whole 
and,  in  the  whole,  even  to  the  Self.  The  Self,  as  it 
were,  reaches  in  and  through  all  its  outer  garments 
of  expression,  reaches  the  physical  and  gives  it  the 
vivifying  touch  by  which  it  throws  off  impurity, 
placing  itself  in  accord  with  the  Law  and  preparing 
the  foundation,  solid  and  well  constructed,  on  which 


136  Physical  Eelations. 

the  Self  rears  the  marvelous  structure  of  its  power, 
and  perfection.  All  preachers  of  truth,  all  inter- 
preters of  the  higher  teachings,  had  a  worthy  con- 
ception of  the  body,  and  of  the  interrelation  of  the 
Self  and  the  physical.  In  speaking  of  the  body,  they 
call  it  "the  temple"  of  the  Self.  They  say  that  eat- 
ing, drinking,  sleeping  and  the  many  pursuits  of 
physical  necessities  are  not  to  be  suppressed.  Every 
motion,  every  act,  if  turned  into  the  proper  channel 
of  expression  and  directed  to  the  Self,  becomes  divine 
in  meaning  and  in  efficacy.  Everything  belongs  to 
the  all-containing  Self.  Nothing  exists  besides  it 
Therefore,  in  a  relative  sense,  the  physical  and  the 
body  are  to  be  considered  as  belongings  of  the  Ideal. 
In  that  light  their  activity  can  never  become  misdi- 
rected. It  can  never  manifest  the  low  or  inverted 
order.  If  the  body  is  hungry  or  cold  or  suffering  any 
discomfort  the  sage  attends  to  the  need,  knowing 
that  if  the  body  is  in  any  way  discommoded  it  is 
no  longer  a  perfect  manifesting  conduit  for  the  phys- 
ical and  terrestrial  expression  of  Self.  The  student 
of  spiritual  matters  is  anxious  to  give  the  body  such 
food  and  such  physical  comfort  as  will  enable  it  to 
do  the  greatest  amount  of  service.  Perfect  service 
is  the  work  of  all  conditions,  the  manifested  action  of 
inner  harmony.  In  relation  to  purity  of  food,  the 
scriptures  of  various  nations  differ  as  to  the  nature  of 
pure  food.  The  Bible,  for  example,  particularly  the 
Old  Testament,  denounces  the  use  of  swine's  flesh. 
In  this  a  wise  physiological  providence  is  discerned; 
it  was  hygienic  advice.     In  a  country  like  Judaea 


Physical  Relations.  137 

pork  is  the  last  food  permissible.  Its  indiscrim- 
inate use  would  result  in  digestive  disorder  and 
manifold  trouble.  The  Mohammedans  condemn  pork 
for  the  same  reason.  They  also  condemn  every 
kind  of  liquor  because  in  that  climate,  liquors  have 
harmful  influence.  With  the  spread  of  Christian- 
ity this  rigid  adherence  of  abstinence  from  pork 
relaxed.  It  goes  to  show  that  the  New  Testament 
preached  to  the  inhabitants  of  colder  lands,  changed 
in  this  regard  from  the  Old  Testament,  owing 
to  the  difference  in  climatic  and  temperamental 
surroundings.  The  Arabian  and  the  German  or 
the  Norwegian  live  in  separate  spheres  of  physical 
relationship.  What  would  be  food  for  the  one 
would  be  poison  for  the  other.  Meat  is  not  a 
tropical  food,  but  in  cold  regions  it  is  a  physical  re- 
quirement. The  fat  substance  and  the  animal  stimu- 
lus of  food  are  essential  in  the  temperate  zone, 
especially  in  its  upper  region.  There  is  nothing  sin- 
ful in  the  eating  of  meat.  Meat  is  vitalized  vegetal 
matter.  In  the  end,  all  energy  and  life  force,  and 
matter  which  supplies  physical  vitality  comes  from 
the  sun.  The  vegetal  kingdom  receives  its  life  and 
life  material  from  the  sun  in  a  direct  manner.  The 
herbivorous  animals  live  upon  the  vegetal  kingdom. 
The  carnivorous  animals  live  upon  flesh,  and  all, 
directly  or  indirectly,  get  subsistence  from  the  sun. 

The  East  Indians  have  alone  transposed  a  psycho- 
spiritual  meaning  in  food  regulation  and  prescription. 
They  did  not  confine  abstinence  solely  to  pork,  but 
to  meat  as  such.    The  reason  given  was,  that  all  life 


138  Physical  Relations. 

being  one,  it  is  sacred,  and  inviolable  irrespective  of 
form.  Another  and  still  deeper  significance  attached 
itself.  Animal  foods,  being  the  most  indirect  of  all 
sun-produced  foods,  were  purveyors  of  impurities. 
The  idea  is  that  the  more  the  body  obtains  food  and 
life  supply  direct  from  the  sun,  the  more  is  it  in 
natural  harmony  and  the  elements  of  the  body  are 
purer.  Animal  food  is  coarse  and,  therefore,  little  of 
it  should  be  eaten.  The  religious  teacher  does  not 
say:  "Thou  shalt  not  eat  meat."  He  only  advises 
that  it  is  rather  indiscriminate  to  indulge  in  it,  to 
accustom  the  appetite  to  its  taste,  and  make  it  a  mat- 
ter of  habit.  If  there  is  the  want  for  meat,  if  it  is 
necessary  for  bodily  sustenance,  the  thing  to  do  is 
to  eat  meat.  All  this  seems  strange  to  those  who  do 
not  understand  the  psychology  of  food.  "What  we  are 
is  largely  the  result  of  food.  Food  produces  various 
humors  which  affect  the  body,  and  from  food  tem- 
perament largely  develops.  The  elephant  is  herbiv- 
orous; it  is  also  gentle.  Its  size  would  apparently 
make  it  formidable,  but  size  has  nothing  to  do  with 
temper.  It  is  a  matter  of  food.  The  lion  lives  on 
meat;  it  is  dangerous.  This  is  likewise  true  of  all 
the  cat  and  canine  tribes.  To  bring  this  closer  to 
mind,  examine  the  processes  of  digestion.  We  eat 
bread  and  the  digestive  process  takes  the  substances 
which  compose  bread  and  converts  them  into  blood, 
muscle,  bone,  tissue  and  vitality.  The  same  holds 
good  of  meat.  The  digestive  processes  take  the  sub- 
stances of  the  meat — that  is  the  vitality,  the  essence, 
the  tissue,  the  bones,  the  muscle — and  convert  these 


Physical  Relations.  139 

into  bodily  sustenance.  This  brings  the  idea  clearly 
and  forcibly  to  mind.  There  is  nothing  sentimental 
or  emotional  about  dietetics.  It  is  really  sanative 
and  hygienic.  It  is  psychological,  and  only  the 
ignorant  will  cast  any  slur  on  the  idea.  All  spiritual 
thought  is  based  on  careful  empiricism,  on  minute 
study  of  physical  details.  It  does  not  bind  the  will. 
It  educates  and  allows  the  individual  to  determine 
and  choose.  It  is  not  in  compulsion  that  perfection 
is  had,  but  in  knowledge  and  discrimination  between 
what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong.  The  Self  is  free, 
and  if  the  lower  self  is  to  attain  to  oneness  with  the 
higher  Self  then  it  too  must  be  free.  If  it  goes 
astray,  if  it  desires  to  tread  the  dubious  path,  well 
and  good.  It  inevitably  must  turn  back  and  know 
and  do  better.  The  soul  must  awaken  to  truth ;  other- 
wise there  is  little  merit  to  right  conduct  performed 
because  wrong  conduct  is  unknown.  It  is  easy  enough 
to  be  moral  when  one  is  far  removed  from  temptation 
and  does  not  know  its  meaning.  If  one  wishes  to 
eat  meat,  he  is  at  liberty  to  do  so.  He  is  at  liberty 
to  do  whatsoever  he  pleases.  Experience  will  be  his 
teacher  and  in  the  end  truth  will  prevail. 

There  is  always  danger  that  the  mind,  concentrated 
upon  certain  things,  will  fall  short  of  others.  There 
are  those  who  believe  spirituality  to  consist  in  ad- 
herence to  outward  form.  These  worship  form,  not 
for  the  meaning  of  the  form,  but  because  of  the  form 
itself.  This  is  idolatry  and  is  psychologically  un- 
wholesome. One  side  of  such  natures  is  distorted. 
We  need  only  consider  the  Turk.   The  Turk  is  a  prac- 


140  Physical  Relations. 

tical  prohibitionist,  but  he  is  a  sexual  esthete.  Moham- 
med was  farseeing.  He  told  his  followers  they  must 
not  eat  pork  or  drink  stimulants,  but  wives  they  could 
have  to  the  number  of  four.  One  does  not  have  to 
look  very  far  for  the  cause  of  this  code.  Polygamy 
is  an  essential  element  in  rapid  production.  It  formed 
one  of  the  more  radical  methods  for  the  propagation 
of  the  Mohammedan  faith,  more  certain  even  than 
conversion  by  sword.  The  celestial  habitations  of 
the  Mohammedan  faith  partook  of  the  same  sexual 
savor  which  spiced  the  earthly  life  of  the  follower, 
only  the  sense  pleasures  were  vivified.  This  is  the 
danger  of  specialization  in  the  moral  code,  the  over- 
emphasis of  one  mandate  to  the  exclusion  of  others. 
The  practical  consequences  of  this  condition  are  enor- 
mous. It  is  witnessed  in  the  decadence  of  the  Mo- 
hammedan race  and  its  backward  position  in  the 
progress  of  civilization.  Wrong  stimulus  may  have 
its  good  effect  in  the  beginning,  but  it  is  disastrous  in 
the  end.  It  is  not  enough  that  one  element  must  be 
controlled  and  the  rest  allowed  to  run  riot.  All  the 
physical  elements  must  be  mastered  and  their  service 
directed  to  spiritual  attainment.  That  is  the  secret, 
not  only  of  religious  and  psychic  progress,  but  also  of 
social  progress. 

The  physical,  when  controlled,  allows  a  greater 
field  for  the  action  and  control  of  mind.  It  shows 
the  mind  its  self-sufficiency,  that  it  is  not  bound 
by  physical  limitations.  Mind  is  inclusive  of  body. 
Mind  manufactures  body.  Out  of  thought-material 
the  body  becomes  concretized.     The  necessity  is  to 


Physical  Relations.  141 

concede  intelligence  to  the  sphere  of  intelligence,  to 
the  mind ;  to  know  that  the  body  is  only  the  body,  only 
an  instrument,  and  that  the  aim  and  purpose  of  bodily 
comfort  is  only  to  render  it  useful  for  the  higher 
life.  There  is  no  intelligence  in  the  body.  Intelli- 
gence of  the  mind  resident  in  the  body  lends  seem- 
ing intelligence  to  the  body.  The  body  is  not  dull, 
lifeless  and  inert,  but  a  mass  of  instinctive  intelli- 
gence of  myriad  lives  which  co-ordinate  into  a  cell; 
of  unthinkable  myriad  lives  which  form  the  number- 
less cells  of  body,  building  up  the  organs,  tissue,  bone 
and  muscular  structure.  Intelligence  alone  is  real; 
only  in  the  distinctions  of  intelligence  is  substance 
recognized.  Where  men  cannot  discern  intelligence 
they  speak  of  substance,  but  what  is  substance  ?  Here 
is  a  layer  of  life  strata  and  they  call  it  human  intelli- 
gence. But  indefinitely  above  and  beneath  this  ter- 
restrial strata  are  numberless  other  strata,  spheres 
or  planes  of  being.  By  the  vivification  of  the  senses 
super-physical  spheres  may  be  discerned  and  their 
intelligences  communed  with.  Beyond  the  animal 
strata  of  being  is  the  vegetal.  The  vegetal  is  no 
longer  considered  destitute  of  life.  Men  are  apt  to 
give  too  flimsy  and  narrow  a  meaning  to  the  word 
"life."  They  call  only  those  things  alive  which  move 
and  breathe.  Botanists  are  now  assured  that  vegetal 
forms  communicate.  Where  sensitiveness  is  con- 
cerned, what  is  more  sensitive  than  a  sensitive  plant  ? 
It  is  alive  with  sensitiveness,  and  sensitiveness  is  the 
manifestation  of  life,  real  and  active.  The  roses  and 
the  lilies,  the  violets  and  the  pansies  are  alive,  having 


142  Physical  Relations. 

the  tactual  sense  remarkably  developed.  It  may  seem 
somewhat  sentimental  to  assert  that  flowers  are  re- 
sponsive to  human  love  and  care,  nevertheless  it  is 
known  that  some  flowers  quickly  wither  if  worn  by 
certain  people.  This  is  a  deep  occult  truth.  The 
physical  life  of  flowers,  their  fragile  vitality,  is 
quickly  absorbed  by  persons  of  coarse  vitality,  whose 
very  presence  seems  detrimental  to  flowers.  Others 
can  care  for  flowers  and  they  remain  in  bloom  for 
days.  Those  who  are  responsive  to  the  sensitiveness 
of  flowers  will  not  carelessly  pass  one  thrown  on  the 
street  to  wither  and  die. 

This  shows  us  the  livingness  of  the  vegetal  king- 
dom. Flowers  seem  to  be  only  visions  of  material 
beauty,  when  in  reality  they  are  visions  of  the  eternal 
beauty  of  life.  The  chemical  kingdom  is  also  a  mass 
of  life.  Limited  in  sense  perception  and  in  that 
sensitiveness  which  overlaps  the  boundary  of  normal 
feeling,  one  cannot  readily  see  life  in  chemicals,  but 
the  universe  is  constructed  of  chemicals.  If  there  is 
life  manifest  in  the  concretely  physical,  life  must 
also  exist  in  chemical  compositions  out  of  which  the 
physical  universe  is  formed.  It  is  a  deep,  deep  study 
and  the  more  the  study,  the  greater  the  marvel.  Nat- 
ure is  a  revelry  of  life,  filled  with  life  to  complete- 
ness. A  particle  of  water  does  not  look  like  a  world 
of  life  in  itself,  but  to  the  millions  of  animalculae 
who  inhabit  it,  it  is  a  world  of  vast  dimension. 

There  is  no  substance.  All  is  life,  throbbing  life. 
"What  appears  to  be  matter  exists  only  through  normal 
vision  which  fails  to  discern  the  infinitely  invisible 


Physical  Relations.  143 

life,  cognizing  only  the  outward  condensation  of  that 
life  in  bulk.  Beyond  the  terrestrial  sphere  are  the 
psychic  worlds,  again  all  life  and  the  manifestation 
of  life.  As  the  microscope  presents  a  vision  of  the 
indefinitely  small,  so  the  psychometres  and  the  instru- 
ments of  psychic  discoveries  relate  the  physical  to  the 
psychic  worlds,  revealing  life,  infinite,  all-pervading, 
illimitable,  inconceivable,  omnipresent  life.  The 
vastness  of  the  cosmos  with  its  innumerable  phe- 
nomena is,  when  rightly  perceived,  but  a  replica,  vast 
and  pregnant,  of  the  greatness  of  Self.  Man  is  by 
far  greater  than  all  this  physical  greatness  of  dimen- 
sion and  bulk  and  most  important  in  the  universal 
order,  for  all  material  existence  and  form  is  depend- 
ent on  the  expression  and  determining  influence  of 
the  individual. 

Insight  into  the  importance  and  relation  of  the 
physical,  demands  intuitive  perception.  It  takes  lives 
of  continued  effort  for  a  single  science  to  evolve.  The 
science  of  language  has  developed  with  the  patience, 
investigation  and  perseverance  of  hundreds  of  in- 
dividual lives.  So,  in  the  summary  of  individual  un- 
derstanding of  Self  and  the  physical,  it  requires  re- 
peated individual  lives  of  effort  to  realize  truth.  But, 
if  persisted  in,  the  end  is  sure. 


MOKAL   KELATIONS. 


CHAPTEE   VII. 


MOEAL  RELATIONS. 


The  responsibility  to  life  each  individual  owes  is 
the  preservation  of  the  sacredness  and  wholesomeness 
of  life,  so  far  as  it  lies  within  his  control  to  check 
retrogressive  influences.  Each  person  is  the  custodian 
of  the  individualized  force,  constituting  his  nature. 
According  to  the  fluctuations  and  the  rhythm  of  in- 
dividual life  is  its  wholesomeness  and  evolution  de- 
termined. Each  particle  of  the  great  sea  has  its 
influence  upon  the  sum  total  of  waters.  One  cannot 
disturb  a  particle,  but  what  the  entire  sea  must  re- 
adjust itself.  So  it  is  with  the  infinite  ocean  of 
existence.  The  various  inharmonies  of  individual 
lives  have  wide  effect.  Each  and  every  thought,  each 
and  every  attitude  of  personal  life  has  its  latitude  of 
collective  influence.  Even  as  in  the  material  order, 
an  insignificant  atom  has  tremendous  activity,  so  the 
slightest  variation  of  thought  has  a  wide  area  of 
influence.  The  disturbance  of  matter  in  the  potential 
order  will  cause  the  potential  to  become  kinetic,  to 
manifest.  The  disturbance  of  the  minutest  particle 
of  the  psychic  element  will  disturb  the  whole  constitu- 
tion of  the  individual.  For  this  reason  is  self-control 
a  necessity.  It  is  good  to  obey  the  moral  law,  not 
because  of  any  reward  here  or  hereafter,  but  because 


148  Moral  Relations. 

by  adjusting  desires,  thoughts,  and  emotions  to  moral 
law,  men  harmonize  their  individual  life  forces,  and 
acquire  self-mastery.  Regenerate  characteristics  are 
stimuli  to  evolution.  They  serve  not  only  to  direct 
the  mind  into  higher  forms  of  co-ordination  and  activ- 
ity, but  also  have  important  bearing  on  physical  mal- 
adjustments, rearranging  discordant  elements,  and 
bringing  them  into  their  sphere  of  usefulness.  Moral- 
ity has  nothing  to  do  with  sentimentalism ;  it  has 
everything  to  do  with  mental  and  physical  sanity, 
with  the  specialization  of  factors  conducive  to  the 
aggrandizement  of  individuality,  to  the  perfection  of 
sensibilities,  and  the  manifestation  of  potential  facul- 
ties and  talents.  Morality  is  a  solid,  concrete,  power- 
ful force  capable  of  producing  radical  results.  Proper 
moral  attitudes  are  vibrant  with  the  strength  of  re- 
sistance. Virtue  may,  as  a  poet  says,  "often  arise 
from  sated  desire,"  but  it  may  also  exist  through  lack 
of  temptation.  Many  are  virtuous  because  they  have 
never  had  the  opportunity  to  be  otherwise.  It  is  not 
in  shunning  evil  that  moral  strength  is  manifested, 
but  in  overcoming  spiritual  lethargy  in  the  very  pres- 
ence of  passion.  Virtue  comes  not  from  inexperience 
but  through  multitudes  of  experiences ;  as  the  climax 
of  the  relations  between  the  soul  and  desire  and  pas- 
sion. It  is  only  when  the  mind  realizes  the  vanity 
of  things  that  their  experience  and  pleasure  become 
negative  to  consciousness.  The  untutored  and  unin- 
formed soul  "kisses  the  mouth  of  sin"  unawares  of  the 
ominous  significance.  The  average  mind  has  but  an 
instipctive  and  a  conventional  moral  consciousness. 


Moral  Relations.  149 

That  is  why,  in  the  processes  of  evolution,  various 
conditions  develop  to  stem  or  change  the  tide  of  public 
understanding  of  morality. 

The  moral  element  has  meaning  in  the  harmony  of 
individual  constituents.  It  manifests  in  relegating 
instincts  to  their  proper  sphere,  and  in  changing  in- 
verted instincts  into  modes  of  serviceability.  The 
moral  has  significance  in  the  sympathetic.  Sympathy 
and  moral  consciousness  are  co-existent.  Consider 
the  meaning  of  the  word  and  its  derivation.  The  root 
is  in  the  Greek  noua  "pathos/'  which  means  feeling, 
and  in  "sun"  the  Greek  preposition  with.  Thus 
"with  feeling"  is  the  meaning  of  sympathy.  If  one 
sympathizes  with  the  sorrow  of  a  friend,  he  does  so 
in  ratio  to  his  sensitiveness  to  the  vibrations  causing 
the  sorrow  of  his  friend.  Similarly  with  joyous 
sympathy.  Morally  applied,  sympathy  is  the  har- 
mony of  consciousness  with  evolved  instincts  and  emo- 
tions. Men  of  spiritual  sympathies  feel  the  harmony 
of  the  higher  and  the  discord  of  the  lower,  and  revolt 
at  the  latter  and  adapt  themselves  to  the  former. 
When  feeling  is  beautiful  in  conception,  it  no  longer 
contains  itself,  but  flows  from  the  heart  as  a  filled 
vessel  overflows.  It  is  then  truly  great,  and  its  in- 
fluence is  truly  healing  and  restorative.  Whenever 
such  sympathy  is  applied  to  the  miseries  of  others, 
redemption  follows  in  its  wake.  That  is  the  meaning 
of  the  redemption  by  the  "Son  of  Man."  The  Christ 
was  transfigured  with  sympathy  for  man,  enslaved  in 
ignorance  and  prey  to  each  retrogressive  influence. 
Sympathy  naturally  develops  love.    Redemption  was 


150  Moral  Relation  . 

not  due  to  any  desire  to  save  humanity  from  the 
rigorous  and  exacting  justice  of  a  vengeful  deity. 
It  was  the  natural  outcome  of  a  great  love.  Great 
lovers  of  humanity  are  active  workers  in  changing 
the  course  of  stagnant  expression.  Their  activity 
is  the  triumph  of  a  developed  moral  comprehen- 
sion. The  meaning  of  natural  evolution  is  moral. 
All  effort  at  variation  of  form  and  specialization 
of  force  has  deep  vital  meaning.  The  achievement 
of  nobler  channels  of  expression,  the  development 
of  better  modes  of  manifestation  has  a  mental 
and  psychic  bearing  in  keeping  with  physical  evo- 
lution. There  is  a  biological  and  evolutionary 
idea  in  many  of  the  truths  interpreted  by  religious 
dogma.  The  central  facts  of  the  chemical  and  biolog- 
ical sciences  have  always  been  known.  Our  modern 
science  is  only  re-discovering  ancient  truths.  The 
public  receives  its  scientific  information  in  different 
forms.  It  is  generally  interpreted  in  practical  values, 
and  that  is  the  essential  in  the  education  of  public 
opinion.  Science  unearths  different  laws  and  dis- 
coveries and  applies  them  in  the  practical  course  of 
scientific  education.  Knowledge  must  turn  into  serv- 
iceableness  before  it  has  any  than  a  purely  theoretical 
value.  Practicality  is  the  value  of  theory.  Theory, 
if  well  founded,  aims  at  practicality.  Scientific  truth 
was  delivered  in  ancient  times  through  religious  sym- 
bolism and  mythology.  The  priests  were  not  only  cus- 
todians of  moral  truth,  but  equally  custodians  of  his- 
toric and  scientific  truth.  The  people  were  illiterate, 
therefore  truth  could  be  interpreted  to  them  only 


Moral  Relations.  151 

through  the  imaginative  process.  In  the  beginning, 
this  interpretation  was  perfect  and  in  harmony  with 
truth,  but,  in  time,  the  priestly  caste  neglected  its 
original  responsibility  and  intellectual  pursuit.  The 
religious  interpretation  of  truth  became  solely  myth- 
ological and  symbolistic.  Thus  the  latter  was  exclu- 
sively dwelt  on  and,  in  time,  became  the  distinguish- 
ing features  of  orthodox  religion.  Scientific  pursuits 
were  inherited  by  worthy  exponents  of  secular  life. 
Then  misunderstanding,  bitterness  and  struggle  arose 
between  the  sectarian  and  the  religious  interpretation 
of  truth,  but  this  was  rather  characteristic  of  religious 
growth  in  the  Occident  than  in  the  Orient.  The  re- 
ligious sages  of  the  Orient  were  allowed  liberty  of 
expression  and  of  thought.  Sectarianism,  persecu- 
tion and  intolerance,  strange  to  say,  were  and  are 
even  now  unknown  in  those  lands  where  the  religious 
instinct  has  been  most  developed  and  cultivated.  In- 
tellectual freedom  is  the  condition  of  true  religious 
growth.  ~No  true  teacher  instils  the  idea  of  blind 
faith.  Such  faith  is  pernicious.  Religion  and  science 
must  unite  their  forces  even  as  they  did  in  the  begin- 
ning, when  the  priestly  was  also  the  intellectual  caste. 
We  are  not  far  from  this  blending  of  sectarian  and 
religious  truth,  for  truth  is  ever  one  without  a  second 
and  all  followers  of  truth  are  priests  in  their  respec- 
tive way.  The  spreading  of  truth  is  the  spreading  of 
evolutionary  tendencies  and  impulses.  The  practical 
teacher  of  truth  is  always  a  true  teacher  though  his 
voice  sound  in  the  market-places  of  existence  and  as 
great  as  the  religious  teacher,  surrounded  with  the 


152  Moral  Relations. 

paraphernalia  of  religion,  its  symbolism,  color,  and 
its  variations  of  musical  and  poetic  harmony.  The 
primitive  teacher  had  no  temple  but  the  temple  of 
nature,  no  dome  but  the  empyrean,  no  language  but 
the  simplest,  no  song  but  the  eternal  praise  of  the 
heart,  no  liturgy  but  unexampled  beauty  of  conduct, 
no  symbolism  but  the  mystic  relation  between  the 
idealist  and  the  ideal.  The  purveyor  of  scientific 
truth,  generally  speaking,  is  bound  heart  and  soul  to 
the  finding  and  spreading  of  truth.  His  life  is 
mental.  His  physical  wants  are  few.  The  mystic 
of  science  and  the  mystic  of  religion  can  readily  join 
hands.  Rid  of  bias,  they  can  together  tread  the  path 
to  nobler  things.  Spiritual  philosophy  is  the  aesthetic 
outcome  of  material  research,  and  in  no  wise  dis- 
tinct. The  genesis  of  man,  the  formation  of  the 
earth,  all  that  geology  and  biology  have  discovered  is 
but  second-hand  knowledge.  "There  is  nothing  new 
under  the  sun."  The  astronomical  and  mythological 
conceptions  of  the  ancient  Aryans  smybolize  and 
agree  with  the  scientific  facts  of  to-day.  Knowledge 
evolves  through  lower  forms  and  experience.  Every- 
thing, so  to  speak,  goes  through  cycles,  many  times 
repeating  itself.  Repetition  increases  the  natural 
tendency  to  preservation  of  type.  There  are  many 
associations  which  can  only  be  rendered  stable  through 
indefinite  repetition.  The  development  of  unselfish 
emotions  required  unthinkable  aeons.  Returning  to 
the  idea  that  the  most  evolved  of  modern  ideas  is  but 
the  re-echoing  of  ancient  science,  we  recall  the  atomic 
theory  of  the  origin  of  the  cosmos  held  by  several  of 


Moral  Relations.  153 

the  Greek  philosophical  schools.  To  arrive  at  the 
atomic  theory  of  cosmic  evolution  necessitates  an  ex- 
perimental investigation  into  the  chemical  nature  of 
things.  Speculative  knowledge  is  based  on  experi- 
mental investigation.  So  when  the  Greeks,  or  the 
Vaiseshika,  or  the  Nyaya  thinkers  of  India  reasoned 
concerning  the  atomic  theory,  there  must  either  have 
for  ages  been  prevalent  the  belief,  based  upon  experi- 
mental investigation,  or  else  these  philosophers  un- 
earthed that  discovery  for  themselves.  Many  labor 
under  the  impression  that  the  philosophical  systems 
of  antiquity  were  radically  imperfect  by  reason  of  a 
lack  of  practical  scientific  support.  A  little  inquiry 
into  the  nature  and  growth  of  these  philosophies  will 
reassure  us  of  the  scientific  foundation  upon  which 
they  were  based.  In  the  disruption  of  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  ancient  world  many  things  of  paramount 
importance  were  lost.  The  double  burning  of  the 
Alexandrian  library,  the  devastation  of  Christian  and 
Mohammedan  literary  and  scientific  treasures  by 
Christian  and  Mohammedan  zealots  had  incalculably 
destructive  influence  on  scientific  achievements  of  the 
past.  Relative  to  the  subject  under  discussion  was 
the  ruthless  burning  of  the  archives  of  pre-historic 
Mexican  and  Peruvian  civilizations,  the  destruction 
of  hieroglyphic  tablets  and  picture  scripts  which 
might  have  given  us  important  knowledge  of  the 
character  and  civilization  of  pre-historic  America. 
Inestimably  much  scientific  lore  of  the  ancient  world 
was  swept  into  oblivion  by  the  usurpation,  ignorance 
and  superstition  of  the  dark  ages  following  the  Chris- 


154:  Moral  Relations. 

tiauization  of  the  provinces  of  the  Roman  empire. 
Cicero  says  that  in  his  day  telescopes  were  in  use  that 
enabled  them  to  plainly  distinguish  the  pillars  of  Her- 
cules, now  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar,  when  viewed  from 
the  city  of  Syracuse.  We  can  but  pause  astonished  by 
the  engineering  feats  of  the  Egyptians  in  constructing 
the  pyramids.  The  mechanical  secret  of  the  building 
of  the  pyramids,  as  well  as  the  geometrical  knowledge 
that  afforded  the  mathematical  basis  for  their  design, 
are  forever  lost.  The  greatest  of  modern  engineering 
achievements  do  not  diminish  the  lustre  of  the  engi- 
neering feats  of  the  ancients.  Other  great  accom- 
plishments of  ancient  engineering  skill  were  the  build- 
ing of  the  Roman  roads  and  the  constructions  of  the 
Roman  aqueducts,  particularly  that  of  the  Cloaca 
Maxima.  The  ancients  based  their  philosophy  on  the 
scientific  attainments  of  past  epochs.  Their  philos- 
ophy was  on  a  par  with  their  artistic  and  literary 
culture.  Strange  it  is,  that,  in  spite  of  the  modern 
boast  of  superiority,  we  are  still  borrowing  rhetorical 
standards  from  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  still  plagia- 
rizing artistic  culture  from  the  inimitable  Greeks, 
and  only  just  discovering  the  science  of  psychology 
which  was  perfectly  understood  and  applied  centuries 
ago  in  ancient  India. 

The  pre-eminent  significance  of  wholesomeness  of 
character  is  the  transmission  of  that  wholesomeness. 
Degeneracy  of  character  has  its  synthetic  value  in 
the  entire  personality  and,  as  the  avenue  of  reincarna- 
tion is  through  personality,  gross  characters  on  this 
plane  of  life  can  be  conduits  only  of  gross  physical 


Moral  Relations.  155 

reincarnation.  Their  children  are  instinctively  re- 
trogressive and  readily  adjust  themselves  to  low  en- 
vironment. With  proper  parental  equilibrium,  much 
of  the  misery  of  the  world  would  be  eradicated. 
There  may  arise  as  many  eugenic  associations  as  pos- 
sible, but  it  is  only  with  the  growth  of  individual  un- 
derstanding that  any  relief  can  be  had.  The  follow- 
ing of  borrowed  suggestions  can  only  lead  to  paradox- 
ical results.  That  is  the  flaw  in  radical  reforms. 
Individual  growth  will  be  the  redeeming  factor  in 
social  disturbances  and  in  individual  need.  The  in- 
dividual is  the  only  salvation  to  the  individual.  He 
must  appreciate  the  tremendous  responsibility  paren- 
tal life  imposes  and  awaken  to  the  sense  of  duties 
which  call  for  moral  perfection,  not  for  selfish  rea- 
sons, but  for  purity  of  hereditary  transmission.  Many 
are  like  children  with  the  responsibility  of  giant  char- 
acters. The  performance  of  duties  to  posterity  re- 
quires moral  development.  We  fail  to  realize  for 
what  purpose  we  are  on  this  plane  of  being.  Instinc- 
tively, men  are  followers  of  impulse,  regardless  to 
what  ends  thoughtless  conduct  leads.  Duty  to  pos- 
terity is  not  so  much  physical  as  mental  and  psychical. 
The  physical  is,  at  its  best,  only  a  poor  counterpart 
of  the  characteristics  of  the  thinker.  The  mental 
forms  and  forces  which  proceed  from  the  will  of  the 
thinker  are  the  true  determining  factors  of  physical 
expression.  When  all  correspondences  of  personality 
are  equal,  posterity  is  assured  as  to  beauty  and  fruit- 
age of  expression.  Where  there  is  an  overlapping, 
either  of  good  or  evil,  descendants  run  short  of  pater- 


156  Moral  Relations. 

rial  standards.  A  highly-keyed  personality,  whose  con- 
sciousness is  rather  on  the  mental  than  on  the  desire 
plane,  absorbs  too  much  vital  force  in  personal  expres- 
sion to  enable  his  descendants  to  properly  partake  of 
parental,  mental  or  personal  advantages  of  parents. 
This  explains  why  men  of  calibre  often  have  descend- 
ants far  beneath  their  personal  level.  We  find  the 
sons  of  Caesar  and  Cicero  unknown  and  inconsequen- 
tial save  for  their  illustrious  parentage.  Too  much 
vitality  has  gone  in  the  maintenance  of  personal  equi- 
librium. Men  with  high-pitched  ambitions,  men  with 
high-strung  temperaments  are  absorbers  of  their  own 
life-forces  and  thus  have  little  to  transmit  to  posterity. 
The  control  of  the  finer  forces  of  our  nature  is  also 
the  control  of  the  moral  element  and  the  element  of 
wholesomeness  of  progeny.  It  is  also,  and  more  espe- 
cially, the  factor  through  which  the  individual  is  him- 
self perfected,  harmonized  in  nature,  and  brought 
under  control  of  higher  influences.  The  personality 
is  given  greater  area  of  expression,  a  wider  field  of 
activity,  a  greater  evolutionary  course.  Personality 
is  composed  of  various  discordant  elements,  and  it  is 
in  this  discordance  of  vibratory  influences  and  cir- 
cumstances that  personality  changes  and  develops. 
Personality  must  be  tempered ;  the  discordances  must 
be  equalized  into  one  unifying  condition,  and  that 
condition  is  the  state  of  psychic  control.  Psychic 
control  is  the  control  of  the  finer  forces  of  our  nature. 
And  what  are  these  finer  forces?  They  are  the 
residuum  of  past  impressions  and  influences  which 
have  subsided  beyond  the  plane  of  consciousness,  but 


Moral  Relations.  157 

which  are  still  vibrant  and  effective.  These  finer 
forces  are  strange  in  their  activity.  They  form  the 
fundamental  essence  of  passions.  When  a  person 
says:  "I  am  angry,"  a  great  deal  more  is  implied 
than  is  supposed.  A  state  of  anger  assumes  definite 
form  only  in  the  plane  of  normal  consciousness;  be- 
neath that  plane  it  has  resemblance  to  atomic  ele- 
ments. Gaining  control  of  these  "psychic  atoms,"  so 
to  speak,  is  gaining  control  of  states  of  normal  con- 
sciousness. An  aggregation  of  thought  is  as  vastly  dis- 
tinct from  unconditioned  consciousness  as  the  body. 
Just  as  identification  of  the  real  ego  with  the  body 
is  radically  erroneous,  so  the  identification  of  the  soul 
with  mental  conditions  is  wrong.  The  soul  is  not 
any  separate  state  of  thought  nor  any  aggregate  of 
separate  states.  It  is  free  and  unconditioned.  As 
the  soul  associates  itself  with  mental  and  physical 
phenomena,  it  identifies  itself  with  them.  Anger  is  a 
mental  condition.  It  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  pure 
and  unchangeable  soul.  Just  as  the  physical  world  is 
the  storehouse  of  material  forms,  so  there  is  a  mental 
world  which  serves  as  the  storehouse  for  mental  forms. 
Mental  forms  are  only  physical  forms  of  rarer  com- 
position that  are  invisible  to  the  corporeal  eye  and 
intangible  to  the  senses.  The  mind,  in  psychic  vision, 
can  distinguish  this  mental  world,  its  forms,  vibra- 
tions and  influences,  and  thus  realize  the  mistake  of 
identifying  itself  with  mental  forms.  The  mind, 
encased  in  the  flesh,  is  naturally  occupied  with  phys- 
ical realities,  but  once  its  nature  is  known,  or  more 
discovered  concerning  its  activity,  a  spiritual  insight 


158  Moral  Relations. 

develops  which  will  afford  clear  perception  of  the  finer 
forces.  Back  of  our  personal  nature  is  the  weight  of 
the  lives  past  and  the  influence  of  those  lives  vibrate 
with  tremendous  potency.  Men  find  themselves  urged 
to  different  expressions  of  conduct,  willy  nilly.  They 
seem  to  have  no  control  over  conditions  changing  the 
current  of  their  lives.  Such  conditions  are  the  habits 
formed  and  regulated  by  numberless  acts  in  past 
lives.  The  method  of  mastering  these  forces  is 
through  the  medium  of  opposites,  by  arousing  con- 
trary states  in  the  mind.  The  constant  practice  of 
such  acts  as  these  states  represent  will  form  an  oppos- 
ing force  against  the  compelling  influence  beneath 
consciousness.  All  subconscious  activity  was  once 
in  the  dominion  of  conscious  control.  When  any- 
thing passes  beneath  the  plane  of  consciousness  it  is 
not  essentially  different  than  it  was  in  the  conscious 
area.  It  has  simply  become  fine  and  potential.  Each 
and  every  thought  is  another  link  in  that  chain 
which  must  be  severed  ere  the  soul  can  breathe  the 
pure  atmosphere  of  Spirit.  Good  and  evil,  pleasure 
and  pain,  all  these  and  their  resemblances  have  no 
purpose,  save  the  transformation  of  character.  Char- 
acter, in  reality,  is  consciousness  in  the  normal ;  it  is 
also  the  functioning  of  consciousness  beneath  the 
plane  of  the  normal.  Subconscious  forces  and  vibra- 
tions are  partial  influences  of  character,  each  striv- 
ing for  mastery  over  the  others.  Single  of  these 
psychic  elements  of  character  formulate  into  varied 
aggregations.  Some  have  the  character  of  anger,  of 
gross   passion,    some    of   covetousness    and    different 


Moral  Relations.  150 

forms  of  selfishness,  and  so  on.  Some  also  have  the 
character  of  hope,  of  patience,  of  perservance,  of 
strength,  of  truthfulness,  and  various  forms  of  virtue. 
Good  and  evil,  with  all  their  variations,  are  in  the 
mental  world,  existing  on  higher  or  lower  planes. 
The  meaning  of  personality  can  thus  be  understood 
in  the  nature,  quality  and  power  of  character.  Quali- 
fied by  duality  and  manifoldness,  the  mind  is  the 
foundation  and  the  area  of  every  expression.  Into  this 
network  of  the  mind  the  soul  has  placed  itself.  The 
aim  is  to  extricate  itself  from  this  network  of  illu- 
sion. Just  as  long  as  the  real  "I"  is  identified  with 
anger,  with  fear,  with  weakness,  with  hope,  or  with 
any  of  the  distinctions  of  good  or  evil,  just  so  long- 
is  the  mind  the  recurrent  inheritor  of  physical  bond- 
age. This  world  is  a  great  school.  The  child  does 
not  question  concerning  the  construction  of  the  school. 
It  does  not  know  the  builder  or  the  building  condi- 
tions under  which  it  was  erected.  All  he  knows  is 
that  he  has  his  lessons  to  learn,  that  if  he  learns 
them  he  will  be  rewarded,  and  that  if  he  fails  to 
learn  them  he  will  be  punished.  We  have  our 
duties  before  us.  We  know  that  if  we  pursue  a 
certain  course  it  will  be  inevitably  followed  by 
pain.  We  also  know  that  if  we  pursue  another 
course  it  will  bring  us  peace  and  reward.  The  very 
first  lesson  to  be  learned  is  that  pleasure  and  pain 
are  in  themselves  relative  that  they  lack  meaning 
outside  of  their  value  in  developing  new  and  more 
inclusive  ideals  of  character.  Character,  however,  is 
only  incidental  to  further  enlightment.      Character 


160  Moral  Relations. 

leads  us  through  the  various  experiences  of  terrestrial 
life,  reincarnating  the  soul  time  and  again  and, 
finally,  revealing  to  it  the  divinity  of  its  nature.  The 
evolution  of  character  carries  us  from  primitive  moral 
concepts  to  the  highest,  and  back  of  each  character  is 
the  entirety  of  this  evolution.  All  come  through 
the  chaos  of  the  beginnings,  upward  and  upward, 
until  the  very  highest  climax  is  reached,  the  develop- 
ment and  the  perfection  of  human  nature.  Innumer- 
able human  lives  develop  the  character  of  the  potential 
god.  The  god-like  character  reincarnates  until, 
through  the  vison  of  the  god,  a  faint  glimpse  is 
caught  of  the  final  realization  of  the  omniscient,  om- 
nipresent, solely  existent  Supreme,  the  soul  of  the 
human,  of  the  animal,  of  the  god,  of  the  lowest  of 
creatures. 

Charcater  is  another  method  of  attainment.  It  is 
the  development  of  the  best  of  the  elements  of  human 
nature.  These  high  sounding  names,  pregnant  with 
psychic  unfoldment,  are  simply  different  names  for 
character.  All  moral  effort  is  effort  at  psychic  con- 
trol. It  is  the  relinquishment  of  the  lower  for  the 
everlasting  Self.  It  is  the  real  assertion  of  developed 
individuality  expresed  in  the  realization  of  the 
adept.  Every  effort  of  self-control  is  an  effort  in  the 
final  realization  of  that  wisdom  which  can  alone 
redeem  the  soul  from  the  cycle  of  ignorance  and 
superstition.  Therefore,  whosoever  minimizes  the 
importance  of  character  in  the  evolution  of  spiritual 
consciousness,  blasphemes  his  own  nature.  Before 
the  higher  can  be  reached,  the  lower  must  have  been 


Moral  Relations.  161 

and  that  lower  is  the  instinctive  and  the  selfish 
self,  the  self  of  appetites  and  physical  desires.  The 
passing  of  the  lower  is  the  education  of  the  human 
self,  and  the  human  is  the  reflection  of  the  divine. 
All  self -repression  performed  for  the  sake  of  Self,  all 
extinction  of  the  lower  for  the  higher,  all  sacrifice 
and  sorrow  undergone  for  the  sake  of  the  soul  is  real- 
ized in  normal  culture.  This  is  the  secret  of  morality 
which  few  who  delve  in  metaphyscial  abstraction  dis- 
cover. There  is  always  this  danger  in  reasoning  in 
universals  that  particulars  are  lost  sight  of,  and  par- 
ticulars are  as  weighty  as  the  highest  embracive  con- 
cept. Particulars  may  lose  their  meaning  and  iden- 
tity when  absorbed  into  the  final  thesis,  but,  consid- 
ered in  themselves,  their  importance  is  definite.  The 
identity  with  the  Supreme,  the  realization  in  con- 
sciousness of  the  divinity  of  the  soul  transcend  all 
finiteness.  One  cannot  say:  "Such  a  state  is  this," 
or,  "Such  a  state  is  that."  It  is  neither  good  nor  evil, 
for  it  is  beyond  these  as  beyond  all  relativities.  Such 
a  state  is  inconceivable  and  unknowable  to  the 
human  mind.  It  is  knowable  only  to  those  whose 
strength  of  purpose  has  carried  them  beyond  the  lim- 
itations of  the  human  mind  into  the  perception  of 
essential  truth  and  life.  The  sincere  philosopher 
keeps  pace  with  his  convictions.  No  one  who  is  aware 
of  its  poison,  approaches  a  venomous  snake.  Neither 
will  the  true  philosopher,  who  sees  unity  in  all,  one- 
ness in  manifoldness,  who  recognizes  the  existence  of 
infinite  intelligence  and  the  infinite  presence  of  the 
Supreme,  violate  his  convictions  by  infringing  the 


162  Moral  Relations. 

moral  code.  "Whatsoever  you  do  unto  the  least  of 
these,  you  do  unto  Me,"  said  one  of  the  greatest  of 
the  children  of  men.  Belief  is  truest  belief,  only 
when  supported  by  the  heart. 

Long  is  the  way  of  darkness,  and  dense  the  night 
of  ignorance.  Steep  is  the  upward  ascent  from  the 
primeval,  and  the  light  which  illumines  the  early 
path  is  feeble.  The  way  is  paved  with  the  forms  of 
body  and  the  forms  of  mind,  and  thought  is  as  gross 
as  matter,  for  it  is  all  grossness  in  comparison,  with 
the  rareness,  the  super-fineness,  the  aesthetic  beauty 
of  Spirit.  All  that  is  gross  belongs  to  the  order  of 
illusion.  Illusion  is  the  mother  of  night  and  night, 
the  habitation  of  the  ignorant.  Most  terrible  of  the 
terrible  is  this  illusion,  for  it  is  the  mother  of  all 
terror,  of  the  terrors  of  birth  and  death,  of  the  things 
which  seems  hopeful  and  the  things  which  seem  hope- 
less. The  veil  of  indiscrimination  blinds  the  vison ; 
the  light  is  not  seen,  nor  is  its  kindly  influence  felt. 
The  sacrificial  knife  has  been  raised  and  the  victim 
is  sacrificed  on  the  Altar  of  Darkness  to  the  Primeval 
Mother,  the  Mother  of  Re-current  Terror.  There  is 
much  wailing  and  much  woe  for  all  the  things  which 
are  false,  because  of  their  appearance  of  Truth.  The 
Truth  alone  is  self -established,  for  the  Truth  does  not 
change,  and  the  Truth  leads. 

The  dawn  of  deliverance  is  the  signal  for  redemp- 
tion. The  Voice  of  Truth  is  the  Voice  of  the  Silence. 
The  awakening  of  the  moral  is  the  morning  of  de- 
liverance, and  its  keeping  brings  the  seeker  into  the 
unclouded  day  of  Spirit.     There  is  more  truth  than 


Moral  Kelations.  163 

is  known,  and  there  is  more  truth  in  the  truth  which 
is  already  known.  The  quest  of  truth  is  the  business 
of  soul  and,  if  tthe  soul  rightly  relates  itself,  it  can 
expect  the  fullest  revelation  of  truth.  Nothing  new 
can  be  said.  The  truth  is  the  same,  and  has  ever 
been  the  same,  only  its  aspects  are  new,  only  its 
definitions  suited  to  time  and  necessity.  The  ever- 
living  truth  is  ever  the  saving  truth.  The  truth  is 
eternally  one,  essentially  ever-present,  essentially  em- 
bodying the  exalted  principle  of  omniscience.  He 
who  has  seen  the  truth  becomes  possessed  of  the  truth, 
becomes  one  with  the  truth.  In  this  sense,  truth  is 
separate  in  meaning  from  its  ordinary  significance, 
for  it  is  the  spirit  of  truth  above  all  formulas,  the 
spirit  which  interprets  truth  and  guides  its  dispensa- 
tions. "When  it  is  night  to  all  beings,  then  is  the 
man  of  self-control  awake:  when  all  beings  are 
awake,  then  is  the  night  of  the  man  of  knowledge." 
The  man  of  self-control,  of  moral  stamina  is  ever  on 
the  look-out  against  those  very  things  with  which 
men  are  most  occupied,  and  for  those  things  which 
seem  so  pleasing  to  most  men,  he  is  least  concerned. 
His  day  is  their  night,  their  night,  his  day.  Their 
knowledge  is  his  ignorance;  their  ignorance,  his 
knowledge.  Out  of  the  night  of  spiritual  darkness 
duality  comes  forth ;  out  of  the  day  of  spiritual  knowl- 
edge come  unity  and  the  consciousness  of  unity. 

Morality  has  special  influence  apart  from  the  eth- 
ical. It  has  a  sanitary  influence,  and  that  is  practical. 
It  is  the  practical  adaptation  of  truth  to  life  wherein 
its  consistency  shines  forth  and,  in  this  respect,  the 


164  Moral  Relations. 

practical  influence  of  morality  is  that  it  gives  tone 
and  freedom  to  natural  growth  and  expression.  It 
harmonizes  discordant  phyiscal  vibrations  and  unifies 
conditions  when  proper  activity  depends  on  unity.  A 
little  reflection  on  the  nature  of  ethical  demands 
presents  a  clear  insight  into  the  respective  social  and 
sanative  conditions  brought  about  by  obedience  to 
them. 

The  breaking  of  the  moral  code  is  the  breaking  of 
natural  law.  All  excesses  or  the  practice  of  conduct 
leading  to  excesses  are  unhealthy,  as  well  as  immoral. 
This  affords  new  views  of  many  things,  which,  dif- 
ferently considered,  lose  relation  and  significance. 
When  men  realize  that  different  practices  disturb 
physical  equilibrium,  they  will  at  least  appreciate  the 
uses  of  the  Law,  even  if  they  fail  to  follow  it.  The  Law 
is  not  short  sighted.  At  times  it  is  simply  rendered, 
and  men  imagine  the  truth  as  something  far-fetched 
and  fanciful,  but  the  wisdom  is  real,  as  its  practical 
application  verifies.  We  are  often  blindly  led  by 
desire  into  paths  seemingly  strewn  with  pleasures, 
wrhen,  in  reality,  they  are  bordered  with  pain.  Many 
deeds  are  "like  goodly  apples  rotten  at  the  heart." 
We  are  beguiled  by  the  sophisms  of  desire.  The 
moral  has  value,  again,  in  that  it  is  protective.  The 
immoral  is  injurious.  When  we  do  wrong  it  is  our- 
selves whom  we  injure.  The  influence  of  conduct 
may  extend  to  others,  but  the  individual  reaction  is 
of  far  greater  consequence.  This  idea,  thoroughly 
established  in  consciousness,  would  inhibit  the  com- 
mittal of  many  a  crime.     As  it  is,  men  believe  they 


Moral  Relations.  165 

are  pleasing  themselves  when  they  are  frequently 
causing  themselves  illnesss  and  sorrow  as  a  result  of 
thoughtless  conduct.  It  is  like  a  sphere.  The  pre- 
senting side  of  the  sphere  seems  pleasing  and  promis- 
ing, but  the  opposite  side  is  dark  and  foreboding. 
The  personality  turns  the  presenting  side  about  to 
obtain  a  more  complete  view,  and  the  dark  side  shows 
itself.  That  is  the  meaning  of  immorality.  When 
we  are  immoral,  we  are  our  worst  enemies.  As  the 
soul  evolves,  it  discovers  that  it  has  neither  friend 
nor  enemy,  but  that  its  own  acts  attract  good  and 
evil  conditions.  The  soul,  in  this,  is  absolutely  free. 
Within  its  own  depths  lies  the  power  to  evoke  bliss 
or  pain,  and  as  most  persons  are  in  ignorance  of  how 
to  arouse  the  hidden  forces  of  the  soul,  they  measure 
out  pain  to  themselves,  although  their  purpose  is 
self-pleasure.  Pain  and  repeated  pain  follows,  be- 
cause the  soul  has  not  as  yet  developed  the  discrimi- 
nation which  distinguishes  between  the  things  which 
truly  make  for  pleasure  and  the  things  which  cause 
pain.  The  appearances  of  things  deceive  and  will 
always  deceive.  The  eye  of  the  mind  must  train 
itself  to  see  beneath  the  surface  and  to  distinguish 
the  germ  of  pain  in  the  heart  of  seeming  pleasure. 
There  is  no  happiness  in  immoral  or  in  selfish  acts. 
Inordinate  passion  leads  to  mental  and  physical  ruin. 
The  drain  on  nervous  energy  is  a  robbing  of  the  vital 
stamina.  Passion  is  the  perversion  of  natural  desire. 
The  fire  and  fever  of  inordinate  desire  consumes  the 
mental  and  psychic  forces,  disturbs  the  instinctive  life 
and  destroys  the  conditions  for  spiritual  harmony  and 


166  Moral  Eelations. 

j)rogrcss.  In  these  things  lie  the  interpretation  and 
the  logical  consistency  of  right  conduct.  Right  should 
be  enacted  not  for  any  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  right. 
To  be  morally  right  is  to  be  physically  and  mentally 
adjusted;  it  means  the  harmony  and  perfect  equilib- 
rium of  personality.  Man's  responsibility  during  the 
sojourn  on  earth  is  the  perfection  of  personality,  and 
personality  can  be  rendered  perfect  only  by  con- 
trolling its  various  principles.  This  presents  a  worthy 
attitude  in  relation  to  justice  and  truth.  True,  there 
is  a  humanitarian,  an  unselfish  and  an  evolutionary 
motive  for  doing  right,  but  the  greatest  motive  is  self- 
perfection. 

It  is  not  in  verbal  assent  to  moral  codes  and  in  their 
intellectual  support  that  good  is  done,  but  in  actual, 
daily  practice.  Practice  of  moral  demands  will  open 
the  door  of  spiritual  knowledge.  If  we  are  true  to 
ourselves  and  develop  the  very  best  within  us,  it 
follows  that  we  can  then  be  false  to  no  man.  We 
should  be  moral,  because  it  is  unhealthy  to  be  other- 
wise. Some  of  the  passions  are  directly  telling  upon 
the  organs  and  functions  of  the  body.  Anger  can 
cause  the  rupture  of  blood  vessels  and  disturbs  the 
proper  action  of  the  liver;  fear  will  cause  nervous 
prostration,  often  death.  Jealousy  and  grief  also 
have  their  effects  on  the  body.  Cases  are  frequently 
recorded  where  infants  have  died  as  the  result  of 
nursing  the  mother's  milk,  poisoned  by  her  sudden 
and  violent  anger.  The  nervous  and  functional 
troubles  arising  through  inverted  desires  and  emotions 
are  numerous,  and  often  chronic  and  mortal.     There- 


Moral  Relations.  1G7 

fore,  even  from  a  physical  point  of  view,  too  much 
stress  cannot  be  laid  on  the  uses  of  morality.  Moral- 
ity will  not  be  regarded  much  longer  under  a  dogmatic 
or  purely  religious  heading.  The  time  is  fast  ap- 
proaching when  the  morally  afflicted  will  be  placed  in 
the  same  standing  as  the  physically  afflicted,  and 
treated  and  cared  for.  Advanced  surgeons  are  already 
performing  operations  upon  children  of  abnormal  ten- 
dencies and,  in  frequent  instances,  complete  cures  are 
brought  about.  There  is  deeper  value  and  importance 
attached  to  the  conditions  of  the  morally  afflicted,  for 
they  are  no  longer  considered  wicked,  but  sick  and, 
as  sick  persons,  need  medical  or  surgical  attention. 
Under  the  heading  of  immorality  may  be  included  all 
such  insanities  as  morbid  worries  of  whatever  descrip- 
tion. Responsible  persons  have  no  right  to  worry. 
It  is  sinful.  It  tends  to  self-depreciation  and  to 
weakness,  and  weakness  is  the  only  original  sin. 
Morbid  fears  deplete  vitality.  Worry  is  as  much  of 
a  sin  as  any  numbered  in  the  decalogues  of  religions. 
The  most  important  influence  of  worry  is  its  tendency 
to  self-destruction.  There  are  more  ways  to  the  sui- 
cide's grave  than  the  sudden,  fitful  self-destruction 
almost  daily  witnessed.  There  is  the  self-murder 
arriving  at  its  purpose  by  circuitous  paths,  and  of 
these  are  worry  and  passion.  In  the  mind  of  Him 
who  wots  of  all  things,  the  person  who  drinks  him- 
self to  the  tomb,  or  slays  himself  through  mad  pas- 
sions, is  as  guilty  of  suicide  as  he  who  deliberately 
places  the  revolver  to  his  head  and  shoots  the  bullet 
which  sends  him  into  eternity.    This  is  another  value 


168  Moral  Relations. 

of  morality,  the  value  of  responsibility.  The  results 
which  this  responsibility  carries  are  more  terrorsome 
than  the  wildest  fancies  of  hell,  for  unlike  hell  they 
are  real  and  cruel.  It  is  only  through  pain  that  ex- 
perience is  gained,  and  often  that  pain  is  bitterest. 

Experience  is  knowledge  in  the  nut-shell,  not  dry, 
scholastic  learning,  but  the  conscious  appreciation  of 
the  values  of  life.  It  is  often  a  hard  drilling.  The 
pursuer  of  passion,  fettered  by  the  iron  chain  of  habit, 
has  a  hard  time  bursting  the  links  of  vice.  Yet  it  all 
lies  in  the  educated  will,  which  must  be  aroused  into 
activity  and  determination  of  purpose.  Then  the  con- 
quest is  easy,  but  this  arousing  of  the  will  is  far 
from  the  mind  of  the  immoral  man.  He  cannot  school 
his  mind  to  the  necessary  renunciation;  so  pain  and 
misery  compel  him.  When  a  man  realizes  danger 
from  a  certain  direction  he  will  not  follow  the  line. 
The  stricken  soul  must  come  to  the  practical  realiza- 
tion of  the  danger  and  the  suffering  following  the 
practice  of  evil  conduct  and  absorb  into  consciousness 
the  experience  of  pain.  Then  only  can  reform  be 
hoped  for.  Then  the  will  arises  equal  to  the  task  of 
conquest  over  moral  infirmities.  Then  the  man  can 
take  a  new  hold  on  himself,  uniting  the  lower  with 
the  higher  Self.  Men  are  their  own  executioners. 
There  is  no  god  who  punishes.  Who  shall  punish  the 
soul  in  its  nature  essentially  divine  ?  The  essence  of 
the  soul  is  the  essence  of  the  Law.  The  Law  and  the 
individual  are  one.  Therefore  it  is  the  individual 
himself  who  inflicts  his  own  punishment.  Unac- 
quainted with  the  vital  truth  and  with  that  discrimi- 


Moral  Kelations.  169 

nation  which  distinguishes  between  good  and  evil, 
the  soul  pursues  the  mad  course  of  desire,  satisfies  the 
cravings  of  the  lower  self  and  thus  comes  to  misfor- 
tune. Each  and  every  channel  of  imperfect  expres- 
sion has  to  be  reconstructed.  Each  discord  must  be 
brought  to  harmony,  until  the  entire  nature  of  per- 
sonality is  well  related.  The  only  duty  in  life  is  the 
transformation  of  evil  into  good  habits.  In  the  per- 
fection of  character  is  the  perfection  of  personality, 
and  in  the  perfection  of  the  personality  is  the  growth 
of  the  real  individual ;  and  the  perfection  of  the  indi- 
vidual is  the  discovery  of  the  soul  and  its  identity 
with  the  Supreme. 

The  soul  is  a  magnet,  attracting  to  itself  everything 
and  anything  which  it  desires.  Attractive  forces  at- 
tract to  themselves  only  those  conditions  which  are 
harmonious  with  their  natures.  This  harmony  often 
becomes  inverted  and  the  attraction  and  the  result 
are,  accordingly,  inverted.  One  thing,  which,  prac- 
tically applied,  is  the  greatest  curse  or  blessing,  is  the 
knowledge  that  nothing  can  affect  us  from  outside, 
that  nothing  outside  of  our  own  nature  can  impose 
anything  upon  us.  If  someone  robs  us,  it  is  we  who 
are  robbing  ourselves.  If  someone  cuts  our  throat,  it 
is  we  who  are  cutting  our  own  throat.  If  we  are  illy 
born  and  physically  deformed,  we  have  ourselves  to 
thank.  iSTo  one  but  ourselves  is  to  blame.  We  are  the 
masters  of  our  fate  and  the  architects  of  our  destiny. 
In  our  hands  lies  the  future,  perhaps  not  the  immedi- 
ate future,  for  that  is  already  determined  by  past 
deeds,  yet  that,  though  not  radically  changeable,  can 


170  Moral  Relations. 

be  bettered  by  the  resolve  to  live  harmoniously.  Once 
the  will  has  been  educated  and  aroused,  there  is  no 
end  to  its  transforming  power  for  good.  Nothing  can 
prevent  its  currents  of  expression.  It  is  all  in  the 
will  to  be.  We  are  so  much  concerned  with  the  will 
to  have.  The  manifestation  of  the  will  to  have  is  the 
root  of  all  selfishness  and  inversion  of  character.  The 
will  to  be  leads  to  exalted  heights,  transforms  the 
miserable  into  the  divine,  changes  the  currents  of  evil 
into  good,  develops  the  inner  faculties  and  powers  of 
Spirit,  leads  to  Self-knowledge  and,  ultimately,  to 
realization.  Therefore,  men  should  make  it  the  mas- 
ter-purpose of  their  lives  to  cherish  and  practically  set 
forth  the  will  to  be. 

Moral  practice  is  the  pathway  of  redemption.  The 
divine  can  realize  divinity  only  in  the  manifestation 
of  divinity.  The  pure  and  holy  are  realized  only  in 
the  personalization  of  purity  and  holiness.  That  which 
is  beyond  birth  and  death  must  manifest  this  beyond- 
ness,  and  this  manifestation  is  brought  about  through 
the  constant  practice  of  morality  and  unselfishness. 
In  the  core  of  every  life  stands  that  one  Self.  This  is 
the  true ;  this  alone  the  immortal  fact ;  this  is  alone 
the  saving  knowledge.  This  immortal  Self  is  to  be 
reached  by  the  pathway  of  the  glorious  and  perfect 
ones,  those  who  have  gone  before,  they  the  Sons  of 
Light  and  Truth  who  have  manifested  in  the  Buddha 
and  in  the  Christ  character.  These  characters  express 
the  summary  of  moral  practice.  They  are  the  es- 
sence of  all  that  is  pure  and  holy,  all  that  is  good  and 
great,  all  that  is  perfect  and  sublime.     This  exalted 


Moral  Kelations.  171 

state  is  reached  only  through  long  and  wearisome  lives 
of  infinite  patience  and  struggle  where  lapses  are 
frequent  and  the  rise  difficult.  Nothing  reaches  the 
goal  in  a  moment.  Everything  is  the  result  of  long, 
patient,  and  persevering  effort.  That  is  why  the  path- 
way of  the  Immortals  is  beset  with  obstacles  and  dif- 
ficulties at  every  turn.  This  struggle  is  symbolized 
in  the  legend  of  St.  George  and  the  Dragon,  in  the 
legend  of  the  Holy  Grail,  and  in  all  great  myths 
which  have  served  as  the  moral  standard  for  different 
nations  at  different  stages  of  their  unfoldment.  This 
is  the  meaning  of  folk-lore  and  of  all  those  elements 
which  form  the  nucleus  of  great  epics.  This  is  the 
emphasis,  and  the  worthiness  of  morality.  It  is  not 
that  the  moral  is  of  itself  saving,  but  that  obedience 
to  moral  demands  is  the  path  to  realization  of  super- 
conscious  truths.  For  ages  upon  ages  man  has  dealt 
with  outer  meanings,  with  surface  understandings, 
when  deep  beneath  all  this  surface  rubbish  is  the 
golden  light  whose  ray  gives  whatever  import  there 
may  be  to  external  interpretation.  Great  is  truth 
and  perfect  is  wisdom,  but  both  are  beyond  the  aver- 
age conception.  Truth  is  to  be  discovered,  and  with 
as  great  a  zest  and  fervor  of  research  as  the  worldly- 
minded  give  to  the  things  of  worldly  importance.  One 
cannot  reach  the  heart  of  the  universe  and  the  secret 
of  wisdom  through  haphazard  and  ill-directed  effort. 
It  requires  the  veriest  energies  of  soul,  veriest  sincer- 
ity of  purpose,  exalted  enthusiasm  and  high-minded- 
ness.  In  this  highest  of  attitudes,  conscious  value  of 
truth  and  life  is  brought  to  personal  realization.   For 


172  Moral  Relations. 

this  reason,  obedience  to  moral  demands  is  the  essence 
of  all  virtue  and  the  beauty  of  all  truth. 

What  is  the  nature  of  the  moral  ?  How  is  it  to  be 
determined  ?  What  are  its  essential  characteristics  ? 
That  must  be  discerned  by  the  soul  itself.  It  is  the 
duty  of  the  soul  to  lay  questions  before  its  individual 
understanding.  It  must  face  each  and  every  moral 
problem  and  solve  that  problem  to  the  exclusive  de- 
finition of  the  individual  conscience.  The  soul  must 
find  itself  through  the  solution  of  the  moral  problems. 
When  it  awakens  to  a  sense  of  personal  freedom  and 
discovers  that  knowledge  which  leads  to  the  emanci- 
pation of  the  intellect  and  the  broadening  of  spiritual 
vision,  only  then  is  it  in  harmony  with  moral  values. 
Morality  has  as  deep  a  value  in  the  order  of  life  as 
science.  Its  final  conclusions  are  scientific  and,  as 
previously  stated,  hygienic.  The  entire  energy  of 
the  universe  is  far  from  physical ;  it  is  radically 
moral.  It  is  not  mental  or  scientific;  it  has  purely 
moral  relations.  For  example,  the  birth  of  the  globe 
we  inhabit  has  its  ultimate  purpose  in  the  perfection 
of  the  feelings  of  its  creatures  and,  as  this  perfection 
is  to  the  greatest  extent  synthesized  in  man,  it  is  the 
ethical  development  of  the  human  race  for  which  the 
earth  is  revolving  about  the  sun.  This  is  the  purpose 
for  which  the  sun  rises  and  sets,  for  which  the  entire 
solar  system  moves  and  evolves.  The  ethical  has  its 
highest  import  in  the  consolidation  of  the  true  nature 
of  man  and  the  disintegration  of  retrogressive  im- 
pulses and  tendencies. 

It  is  not  the  focalization  of  power,  not  the  consoli- 


Moral  Eelations.  173 

elation  of  tremendous  mental  energies,  but  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  heart  of  man  and  of  the  heart  of  the 
universe  in  which  all  effort  is  founded.  The  Great 
Unknown  and  the  Blissful  Supreme  is  mirrored  in 
this  reflection  of  [Nature.  Nature's  aim  is  to  perfect 
that  reflection,  until  it  is  so  purified  and  so  purged 
from  distinctions  and  personal  idiosyncracies,  that  it 
loses  separateness  and  merges  into  the  very  heart  and 
living  essence  of  the  Great  Unknowable  Soul,  the  unit 
of  existence,  the  heart  of  all  wisdom  and  love.  Moral- 
ity is  the  spirit  in  the  union  of  the  lower  and  the 
higher.  Many  are  the  pathways  which  lead  to  the 
Supreme,  but  all  require  an  adoption  of  moral  values. 
All  pathways  demand  purification  of  the  heart. 
Knowledge,  power  and  bliss  are  but  variable  aspects 
of  one  divine  essence,  and  that  is  Love.  When  it  is 
realized  that  all  knowledge  is  in  consciousness,  and 
that  consciousness  has  its  value  in  the  emotions,  it  is 
readily  seen  that  the  perfection  of  knowledge  and  the 
perfection  of  consciousness  is  but  the  realization  of 
the  deepest  and  the  highest  and  the  greatest  of  all 
emotions,  the  emotion  of  love.  But  this  love  is  dis- 
tinct from  the  ordinary  conception  and  interpretation 
of  love.  It  is  transcendent,  born  in  the  empyrean 
of  Self;  it  is  beyond  and  beneath  and  inclusive  of 
the  loves  which  find  their  beginning  and  end  in  the 
personal.  These  truths  "must  be  seen,  heard,  per- 
ceived and  known."  They  must  not  rest  in  the  soul 
as  formulas  of  belief.  The  aspirant  is  through  with 
belief.  Direct  perception  and  complete  understand- 
ing form  his  ambition.     The  moral  is  the  soul  of  the 


174:  Moral  Relations. 

sympathetic  and  the  sympathetic  is  the  soul  of  love. 
Sympathy  means  to  feel  with  and  it  is  in  the  feeling 
with  the  ideal,  that  the  ideal  is  loved.  It  is  beauti- 
fully told  in  the  Upanishads,  that  nobody  loves  any- 
thing for  its  own  sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  Self, 
and  the  Self  is  the  ideal  at  all  times,  in  all  condi- 
tions and  in  all  places.  For  that  Self  all  loves  should 
be  cherished ;  for  that  Self  all  morality  should  be 
cultivated.  Morality  for  the  sake  of  self-expansion, 
greater  self-expression,  greater  self-unfoldment,  these 
are  first,  fit  and  only  motives.  Freedom,  infinite  free- 
dom of  will,  infinite  freedom  of  intelligence,  infinite 
freedom  of  expression,  are  essential  in  the  subordina- 
tion of  the  lower  and  the  expression  of  the  higher  self. 
To  responsibly  express  moral  values,  one  must  have 
absolute  freedom.  Otherwise  where  is  duty,  where 
responsibility  %  How  can  anyone  be  held  responsible 
for  what  he  is  compelled  to  do  ?  Where  is  either  the 
merit  or  the  demerit  ?  Morality  has  inspirational  im- 
portance. Leading,  as  it  does,  to  the  purification  of 
the  elements  which  constitute  personality,  it  conduces 
to  the  inflow  of  higher  knowledge  and  spiritual  in- 
struction. The  density  and  materialism  of  the  human 
elements  cause  spiritual  ignorance  and  pursuit  of  the 
follies  of  the  senses.  Nothing  great  was  ever  accom- 
plished by  the  chase  after  sense  phantoms.  It  is  in 
the  search  either  after  the  mental  or  the  spiritual  that 
the  transmutation  of  lower  orders  has  been  carried 
on.  Whatever  progress  we  make  is  due  to  the  exten- 
sion of  mental  over  physical  elements.  The  exten- 
sion of  the  psychic  and  spiritual  will  lead  to  far 


Moral  .Relations.  175 

vaster  vistas  and  greater  achievements.  The  exten- 
sion of  the  mental  has  been  at  the  expense  and 
through  the  control  of  the  physical.  The  physical  is 
allied  to  the  instinctive.  The  mental  is  associated 
with  psychic  and  spiritual  values. 

Morality  is  the  spirit  and  the  mother  of  progress. 
The  social  standards  of  the  race  are  moral  standards. 
They  have  developed  through  the  suppression  of 
lower  instincts  and  tendencies.  Truly,  we  are  deeper 
than  we  know  or  appreciate.  Our  promptings  are 
past  our  discernment,  but  ever  and  ever  does  the 
voice  of  truth  reach  through  and  through  the  soul. 
Sometimes  perception  is  direct;  sometimes  it  is 
clouded,  taking  the  form  of  intuitions  and  impres- 
sions. Truth  is  the  Paraclete  of  civilization,  ever 
present  and  vivifying.  Truth  and  the  moral  element 
co-exist.  The  former  is  the  subjective  aspect  of  the 
latter.  This  is  the  heroic  and  exalted  conception  of 
the  relation  of  the  human  soul  to  morality.  This  is 
the  annunciation  of  the  promises  of  the  Self  within. 
The  adjustment  of  personality  to  this  high  under- 
standing is  the  finality  of  effort.  This  is  the  truth 
which  brings  the  mind  into  the  clear  light  of  the 
spiritual  day,  which  brings  it  into  the  understanding 
and  the  true  appreciation  of  spiritual  power  and  con- 
sciousness. As  it  is,  we  are  the  glorifiers  of  our 
ignorance  and  smallness.  The  usual  appreciation  of 
morality  is  narrow  and  accustomed.  The  width  of 
moral  meaning  must  be  further  emphasized  and  with 
practice  corresponding. 


THE  LAW. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


THE  LAW. 


In  the  various  phenomena  of  nature  we  find  an  un- 
varying law  of  cause  and  sequence.  Everything 
comes  under  the  dispensation  of  this  law,  and  upon 
it  science  and  philosophy  are  founded.  We  reason 
from  effect  to  cause  and  from  cause  to  effect.  This 
reasoning  assures  the  fixedness  and  definiteness  of 
natural  purposes.  We  are  convinced  that  everything 
is  well,  for  there  is  nothing  but  comes  under  the 
dominion  of  the  unchangeable  and  ever-present  law  of 
causation.  Especially  are  we  certain  of  the  truth 
and  the  right  in  personal  life,  and  in  the  progress  and 
purpose  of  racial  evolution.  We  are  confident  of  the 
workings  of  this  law,  well  knowing  that  our  relations 
to  it  determine  our  progress.  The  law  of  causation  is 
an  axiom  of  reason.  It  precludes  the  existence  of 
chance,  the  latter  being  only  its  indiscernible  work- 
ings. The  law  is  the  essence  of  principle  and  truism. 
All  things  move  and  are  by  the  law  and  their  per- 
fection and  final  freedom  come  only  through  the  law. 
The  law  is  the  principle  of  universal  and  impartial 
justice.  Whatever  occurs  either  of  good  or  of  evil 
comes  under  the  predispositions  of  the  law.  That 
law  is  the  potential  source  of  phenomena,  the  reason 
for  their  existence,  their  development  and  final  dis- 


180  The  Law. 

solution.  It  is  the  conditioning  factor  of  misery 
and  joy,  of  pain  and  pleasure.  The  working  of  this 
law  manifests  in  the  evolution  of  planets  and  their 
humanities.  Every  man  is  a  surety  to  himself.  He 
lives  within  his  capacity  for  achievement  and  noth- 
ing, save  perversion  of  desire  or  blindness  of  intel- 
lect, can  interfere  with  his  development. 

The  law  is  revered  as  well  as  feared,  for  it  is  a 
light  as  well  as  a  darkness.  It  may  rise  as  high  as 
it  may  cast  low.  Within  the  operations  of  the  law, 
man  is  a  free  agent.  He  can  choose  his  conduct  and 
determine  the  intellectual  conclusions  which  form 
motive  principles  for  conduct.  The  law  is  as  ex- 
tensive as  the  universe  is  possible  of  development. 
It  is  the  origin  of  phenomena  and  relative  life.  Be- 
yond relative  life  there  is  no  law,  for  Spirit  is  beyond 
the  senses  and  thought.  All  manifestation  within  the 
realm  of  the  mind,  or  within  the  realm  of  matter 
is  under  the  sway  of  law.  The  saving  feature  of  this 
law  is  its  evolutionary  tendency.  It  has  but  one 
perspective,  the  perspective  of  hope  and  the  vista  of 
achievement.  Ever  busied  with  higher  interests,  it 
constantly  moulds  the  nature  of  man  into  channels 
of  developed  expression.  The  upward  course  is  tedi- 
ous and  often  discouraging,  but  the  law  brooks  no 
difficulties  and  is  conscious  of  no  barriers.  Filled 
with  the  purpose  of  perfection,  it  is  one  with  perfec- 
tion, and  its  workings  dispense  in  no  way,  other  than 
that  of  perfection.  Yet  is  the  law  nothing  in  essence 
separate  from  the  nature  of  the  soul.  It  is  not  that 
the  law  is  one  thing  and  the  will  of  man  another. 


The  Law.  181 

They  both  are  synthesized  in  a  higher  unity,  the 
unity  of  that  ancient  and  unknowable  condition  where 
consciousness,  law,  plurality  and  all  things  of  relative 
origin  pale  into  the  all-embracing  fulness  of  the 
Supreme.  The  law  is  the  faithful  distributor  of 
merit  and  demerit.  It  takes  cognizance  of  each 
thought  and  each  word;  it  is  the  custodian  of  each 
act  and  desire.  It  discerns  motives  better  than  we; 
it  knows  inmost  thoughts  and  the  ps3<chological  foun- 
dation of  all  conscious  activity.  It  knows,  because 
it  is  conterminous  with  the  performance  of  acts 
and  the  thinking  of  thoughts  that  form  the  various 
strata  of  tendencies  and  possibilities.  The  law  is  the 
moulder  of  disposition  and  character.  It  exists  in 
the  essence  of  personality,  disposing  it  toward  dif- 
ferent possibilities  and  limitations.  We  cannot  too 
fully  appreciate  this  activity.  All  that  we  are  to-day 
is  the  fruit  of  past  acts.  That  is  rational.  It  can- 
not be  otherwise.  If  all  things  proceed  from  given 
causes,  then  present  personality  is  an  effect  of  past 
personality.  The  effect  is  not  different  from  the 
cause.  Cause  and  effect  are  one.  It  is  our  perpetual 
method  of  looking  at  things  in  the  light  of  duality, 
which  renders  us  incapable  of  discerning  oneness  in 
effect  and  cause.  The  effect  is  the  manifestation  of 
the  invisible  cause.  The  cause  manifests,  and  in  that 
manifestation  is  the  effect.  It  is  like  the  elongation 
of  a  cord  from  a  dark  into  a  lighted  room.  We  can- 
not see  the  portion  of  the  cord  hidden  by  the  dark- 
ness. We  see  only  the  portion  which  extends  into  the 
light.     We  understand  that  the  extended  portion  is 


182  The  Law. 

but  the  visible  form  of  an  invisible  form.  This 
reasoning  applies  to  the  entire  world  of  phenomena. 
We  see  but  the  half  of  a  given  whole  and  pronounce 
the  half  a  complete  whole,  losing  sight  of  the  invisible 
half.  Scientific  investigation  and  diligent  research 
correct  our  earliest  impression.  We  see  new  mean- 
ings in  most  ordinary  and  commonplace  circum- 
stances and  objects.  In  this  newness  of  vision,  intel- 
lectual depth  and  breadth  are  born.  Narrowness  of 
vision  is  the  cause  of  narrowness  of  conduct  and 
progress.  Seeing  both  sides  of  a  thing  applies,  not 
alone  to  moral  and  social  understandings,  but  equally 
to  the  intricate  problems  which  confront  the  mind 
and  heart.  There  are  times  when  the  racial  intelli- 
gence, or  a  portion  of  it,  is  prone  to  one-sidedness  of 
vision.  This  fault  leads  to  innumerable  complexities, 
both  social  and  religious.  It  is  the  drifting  to  "Dark 
Ages."  With  the  advance  of  scientific  progress  and 
with  liberty  of  thought,  a  new  era  is  born,  an  era  of 
discernment  of  law,  order  and  truth. 

Law  is  truth,  for  it  reveals  truth.  It  is  order,  for 
it  evolves  and  furthers  order.  It  is  justice,  because  it 
is  the  origin  of  justice.  It  is  the  containing  element 
of  all  virtue  and  advancement,  for  it  is  the  mother 
of  evolutionary  tendencies  and  emotions  that  are 
complements  to  high  moral  and  religious  concepts. 
Law  is  harmony,  and  in  its  menta-psychical  connec- 
tions, the  source  of  music  and  mathematics,  for  both 
these  have  their  psychic  origin  in  the  relation  of  har- 
monies. We  are  too  human  in  our  views;  when  we 
speak  of  law  we  apply  it  solely  to  social  or  moral 


The  Law.  183 

problems.     Law  is  universal  in  its  activity  and  in- 
fluence. 

"In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,"  said  the  great 
Evangelist.  It  might,  with  equal  appropriateness, 
be  said :  "In  the  beginning  was  the  Law."  There  is 
nothing  which  does  not  vibrate  within  the  circle  of 
the  law.  This  truth  is  the  fact  upon  which  the  idea 
of  universal  brotherhood  is  based.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  universe  that  does  not  stand  in  fraternal  rela- 
tion to  the  rest  of  life.  The  law  is  the  principle 
wherein  all  loves  find  their  ideal,  for  it  is  the  sus- 
taining spirit  of  all  beauty  and  loveableness.  All 
objects  have  their  ideal  in  the  law.  Therefore  it  is 
the  law  which  is  worshipped  and  loved.  Therefore 
it  is  the  law  to  which  all  lives  are  earnestly  adapting 
themselves.  Knowingly  or  unknowingly  the  law  is 
our  love  and  our  life.  It  is  our  all  in  all;  it  is  the 
source  and  materialization  of  all  hopes  and  ambi- 
tions. Many  and  glorious  truths  are  herein  implied ; 
for  the  realization  of  greatest  realities  keeps  apace 
with  obedience  to  the  law.  The  law  embodies  the 
worthiest  of  hopes;  it  is  the  hope  for  the  reward  of 
individual  efforts.  The  knowledge  that  we  are  in- 
debted to  no  one  but  ourselves  is  inspiring.  We  are 
the  custodians  and  the  directors  of  individual  progress 
through  the  activity  of  the  law.  The  essence  of  spir- 
itual law  and  consciousness  is  indistinguishable  when 
the  law  is  fulfilled  and  its  mandates  obeyed.  Obedi- 
ence is  not  slavery  to  imperative  decrees.  It  is  the 
realization  of  the  Self  which  is  real,  worthy  of  effort, 
the  soul  of  this  phantom  self.     The  phantom  self  is 


184:  The  Law. 

unreal,  and  in  this  sense  is  bondage  real.  Each 
worthy  deed  and  desire  is  a  step  placed  by  the  law 
on  which  the  weary  traveller  of  life's  journeys  finds  a 
saving  foothold.  There  is  no  bondage  if  the  law  is 
discerned  in  the  fulness  of  its  activity.  Bondage 
can  only  come  through  the  ignorance  of  the  lower 
self.  The  soul  of  man  and  the  law  live  and  move 
on  the  same  plane.  The  personality  is  only  relatively 
free.  It  is  free  as  it  unties  the  knot  of  ignorance  and 
removes  the  veil  which  imposes  falseness  of  vision. 
Personality  is  within  the  law.  Without  the  pale  of 
the  law  is  the  ever-free  and  ever-blessed  Self.  The 
spirit  of  man  is  not  bound. 

Established  within  its  inscrutable  premises,  the 
law  determines  the  expression  of  all  things.  Many 
labor  under  the  impression  that  the  law  is  antagonis- 
tic. There  is  nothing  more  conducive  to  our  interest 
than  its  fulfillment.  Inasmuch  as  whatever  we  do 
is  decreed  by  inevitable  law,  we  know  that  we  may 
direct  the  workings  of  the  law  to  advantage.  No  one 
denies  the  right  of  choice.  We  can  do  as  we  wish, 
but,  once  having  performed  the  deed,  we  are  bound 
by  it.  In  one  sense,  therefore,  we  are  the  makers  of 
destiny.  In  another  sense  we  are  ruled  by  it.  Past 
conduct  determines  present  possibilities,  tendencies 
to  good  and  evil  and  to  the  different  pursuits  of  life. 
If  we  possess  possibilities  we  are  only  inheriting  what 
is  due  us.  This  should  serve  as  an  excellent  motive 
for  work  and  development.  No  effort  can  be  lost,  for 
it  has  its  proper  relation  in  the  development  of  per- 
sonality.    We  are  worshipping  ourselves  when  we 


The  Law.  185 

attend  to  the  best  that  is  within  us.  This  is  the 
worship  of  the  highest  Self,  the  soul  of  personality; 
it  is  a  closer  approach  to  the  innermost  sanctuary  of 
the  soul,  where  Self  eternally  resides.  Viewed  in 
this  light,  many  unimportant  circumstances  of  life 
assume  vital  importance.  Commonplace  tasks  are 
elevated  beyond  their  accepted  meaning,  and  become 
sacred  in  character  and  practice.  The  law  reaches 
its  upward  way  in  spirals.  Every  endeavor,  however 
small,  is  a  reaching  out  to  the  highest  Self.  Each 
conformity  with  the  law  is  an  effort  at  uniformity  of 
existence,  and  this  uniformity  is  the  soul  of  the 
highest  Self.  The  highest  religion  and  knowledge 
are  embodied  in  personal  adjustment  to  the  activity 
of  the  law.  Then  the  law  loses  all  its  terrors  and  be- 
comes the  kindest  of  helpers  on  that  upward  path 
which  all  must  climb. 

Circumstances  never  alter  cases.  It  is  we  who 
alter  circumstances.  True  it  is,  that  each  man  carves 
out  his  individual  destiny.  Each  man  is  the  orig- 
inator of  all  that  occurs  in  his  life.  These  ideas  hold 
the  charm  which  misery  sometimes  bears.  Misery  is 
often  like  the  dull  earth  hiding  precious  ore.  From 
inharmonious  circumstances  wonderful  results  are 
frequently  obtained.  Fortune  can  never  defeat  us. 
It  may  bear  us  to  the  ground ;  it  may  isolate  us  from 
friends  and  place  us  within  the  very  midst  of  ene- 
mies, but  it  can  never  crush  the  soul  for,  Phcenix-like, 
it  arises  from  the  ashes  of  the  past  and,  re-entering 
the  theatre  of  life,  is  prepared  to  meet  new  circum- 
stances and  surroundings.    Through  misery,  men  fre- 


1S6  The  Law. 

quently  learn  the  art  of  life.  The  law  in  its  workings 
is  a  teacher  in  disguise,  ever  having  their  highest 
interests  at  heart,  ever  at  work  effacing  the  lower  and 
expressing  the  higher  Self.  Misery  is  the  mother  of 
many  virtues.  She  is  candid  with  us.  Burdened 
with  excess  of  good  fortune,  ambition  becomes  en- 
feebled and  the  soul  is  unfit  to  fulfil  the  duties  for 
which  life  calls.  Misery  is  the  maker  of  the  hero,  of 
the  soldier.  "A  character  is  formed,"  says  Schiller, 
in  the  rush  of  the  world."  Misery,  misfortune,  sor- 
row, these  and  similar  conditions  give  strength  and 
character  to  personality.  They  call  for  the  exercise 
of  the  energies  of  the  soul.  The  greatest  characters 
are  those  upon  whom  the  greatest  responsibilities  and 
sorrows  have  fallen.  Life  is  no  playground;  it  is  a 
field  of  action  and  of  experience.  A  great  devotee 
besought  the  Lord  to  give  her  nothing  but  sorrows,  as 
sorrows  made  her  ever  mindful  of  Him.  Similarly, 
the  heroic  soul  welcomes  the  unpleasant  things  of 
life,  mindful  of  the  great  spiritual  gain  and  strength 
which  come  with  the  overcoming  of  obstacles.  All 
great  things  are  the  fruit  of  pain.  Birth  is  a  sigh 
and  death  is  a  sigh.  All  things  begin  and  end  with  a 
sigh.  In  that  sigh  the  child  of  mind,  the  fruit  of 
experience,  is  born.  The  fluctuations  of  sorrow  are 
perpetual.  Each  soul  has  known  death  and  sorrow 
many  times,  and  each  soul  has  thereby  gained 
strength,  individuality  and  knowledge.  Life  is  a 
deep  mystery,  and  the  deepest  of  all  mysteries  is 
pain.  We  know  it  by  its  value  as  a  teacher,  but  even 
pain  is  transient ;  the  law  alone  endures.  Pleasure  and 


The  Law.  187 

pain  are  sources  of  experience,  but,  of  the  two,  pain 
is  the  more  real.  Pleasure  is  a  phantom.  It  never 
satisfies.  It  only  feeds  the  flame  of  desire.  In  pain 
do  all  creatures  move,  and  sorrow  is  the  first  of  all 
truths  which  pave  the  Noble  Way.  The  law  is  the 
fulfilment  of  hope.  The  law  is  the  provider  for  its 
followers,  even  as  the  sun  is  the  life  of  the  earth,  and 
the  air,  the  provident  element  for  flight  of  winged 
creatures.  The  law  is  the  custodian  of  all  things 
moved  by  law  and  all  conditions  are  determined  by 
its  activity.  The  followers  of  the  Path  are  ever  pro- 
vided with  the  needs  of  the  material.  The  worldly- 
inclined  do  not  appreciate  this  providence  of  the 
law,  but  the  eminent  of  soul  and  the  discriminating 
of  mind  know  that  the  lily  of  the  field  is  clothed  in 
its  spotless  magnificence  through  the  law.  The 
material  man  centers  his  surety  in  financial  holdings, 
but  the  spiritual  man  places  his  security  in  those 
treasures  which  are  beyond  any  perishing. 

Spirit  is  the  principle  moving  the  wheel  of  the 
law,  therefore  its  dispensations  and  fruitage  are, 
directly  or  indirectly,  of  the  highest  spiritual  char- 
acter. The  law  reaches  through  the  individual, 
bringing  him  into  rarer  and  rarer  associations  with 
ideas  and  circumstances  of  spiritual  value.  It  gradu- 
ally relates  him  to  the  highest  Self,  for  the  law  is 
the  manifestation  of  the  wisdom  and  the  glory  and 
power  of  the  highest  Self.  In  the  highest  Self,  all 
things  are  centered.  It  is  there  that  all  conditions  of 
relative  meaning  and  manifold  character  find  unity 
and  value.     Spirit  is  the  sustainer  and  the  consoler 


188  The  Law. 

of  this  transient  sojourn.  The  law  is  appreciative  of 
the  uses  of  sorrow.  Sorrow  is  but  a  dark,  foreboding, 
passing  cloud  in  the  clear  summer's  sky  of  life.  If 
it  gathers,  it  gives  birth  to  the  storm,  but  rain  is  the 
blessing  of  the  fields.  Thus,  in  the  wisdom  of  the 
law,  sorrow  crosses  the  path  of  the  aspirant  to 
strengthen  and  spiritualize.  Through  all  the  varia- 
tions of  the  law  the  mind  should  be  self-centered, 
knowing  full  well  that  both  sorrow  and  joy  have  pur- 
pose and  value  in  the  upbuilding  and  strengthening 
of  character;  and  character  is  the  goal  of  all  effort. 
Personification  has  been  the  chief  factor  in  symbol- 
ism and,  therefore,  we  find  the  law  personified. 

Law  is  the  embodiment  of  all  principle.  Involved 
in  matter  and  in  ignorance,  the  soul  must  abide  by 
the  dispensations  of  a  working  power  emanating  from 
the  soul  and  at  oneness  with  its  very  nature.  The 
soul,  under  the  thraldom  of  finality,  must  reassert  its 
pristine  condition  of  holiness,  purity  and  spiritual 
consciousness.  Nothing  but  the  soul  can  bind  the 
soul.  The  things  which  we  regard  as  binding  the 
soul  are  only  so  many  variations  of  the  soul  acting 
upon  itself.  This  is  the  symbolism  of  the  law,  the 
soul  asserting  or  declining  to  assert  the  truth  concern- 
ing its  spiritual  nature.  In  assertion  is  strength, 
evolution  and  final  realization.  In  declining  to  as- 
sert is  weakness,  misery,  ignorance,  re-birth  and  the 
continual  fluctuations  of  the  tides  of  existence.  Un- 
known and  unknowable  is  the  nature  of  the  soul ;  un- 
known and  unknowable  is  the  nature  of  the  law. 
Beyond  causation,  beyond  this  universe,  the  soul  loses 


The  Law.  ISO 

manifestation,  and  beyond  manifestation  law  is  non- 
existent. 

The  law  is  not  easy  of  comprehension.  Multiform 
are  its  activities  which  baffle  understanding.  So 
many  truths  seem  self-contradictory  and  at  variance 
with  justice  and  wisdom,  so  that  we  often  question 
the  existence  of  law.  Dullness  of  comprehension, 
however,  accompanies  incipient  relations  of  the  mind 
to  spiritual  wisdom.  Life  is  strange  in  its  mani- 
festations. On  the  one  hand  we  find  inestimable 
values,  and  on  the  other  facts  and  factors  discordant 
with  the  significance  of  the  former.  That  is  why 
theologians  attribute  unaccountable  and  incompre- 
hensible conditions  to  the  decrees  of  providence.  At 
times,  however,  they  have  been  so  apparently  unjust 
that  even  the  most  resigned  became  incredulous.  The 
indiscernible  is  not  the  workings  of  chance.  Even 
the  most  haphazard  experience  is  an  accurate  work- 
ing of  the  law.  Coincidences  have  similarity  and 
reasonableness  of  origin  in  their  mental  causes. 
There,  the  most  fortuitous  conditions  are  determined 
according  to  necessities.  There,  the  reality  of  the 
most  incredible  experiences  is  to  be  found.  That 
which  is  passing  is  only  an  image  of  a  substantial 
ideal.  The  seeming  impossibilities  of  the  world  of 
form  are  the  actualities  of  the  world  of  mind.  The 
materially  unattainable  is  the  spiritually  feasible. 
Suddenness  and  unevenness  of  conditions  in  this 
phase  of  being  may  have  slow  and  mathematical  be- 
ginnings in  another  phase  of  existence.  The  injus- 
tice of  so-called  fate  is  the  highest  justice  of  the  law. 


190  The  Law. 

In  life  we  find  persons  of  unspeakable  wickedness 
and  of  greatest  unworthiness  favored  with  riches, 
with  social,  political  or  other  worldly  distinctions. 
Such  apparent  contradictions  of  a  principle  attrib- 
uted with  wisdom  and  justice  are  sorely  puzzling. 
Many  loosen  their  spiritual  hold,  blinded  by  the 
surface  expression  of  the  law,  which  cannot  be  en- 
tirely connoted  on  account  of  psychic  impulses  reach- 
ing far  beyond  any  seeming  accord  with  present  cir- 
cumstances. 

Grains  of  wheat  have  been  found  in  the  crypts  of 
the  pyramids  lying  imprisoned  for  centuries  and  cen- 
turies in  the  darkness  and  lifelessness  of  the  tomb. 
Those  very  grains  have  been  taken  from  their  accus- 
tomed surroundings,  placed  in  the  ground,  favored 
with  sunshine  and  rain  and,  lo,  the  fruitage,  after 
thousands  of  years  of  inactivity!  Our  lives  are 
formed  of  psychic  constituents,  psychic  grains,  as  it 
Were,  many  of  which  are  in  potential  existence  for  in- 
numerable years.  The  time  is  not  ripe  for  their 
expression,  but  when  the  time  comes  the  personality 
will  be  affected.  That  personality  is  only  a  ray  of 
the  individual  who,  in  times  long  past,  expressed  a 
personality  that  formulated  the  psychic  impulses 
which  some  personality  of  the  future  must  express. 
Our  conscious  life  is  only  a  white  light  in  a  dark 
background  of  indefinite  subconscious  life  that  de- 
veloped its  fulness  through  numberless  past  lives. 
The  conscious  elements  subside,  become  fine  and 
potential.  Many  of  these  elements  cannot  become 
active  in  immediately  future  lives.     Their  force  is 


The  Law.  101 

dormant  for  aeons,  until  in  some  distant  future  and 
under  proper  conditions  they  become  kinetic,  bearing 
fruit.  We  may  to-day  generate  psychic  impulses 
which  cannot  reach  the  apex  of  expression  either  in 
this  or  in  several  lives  to  come,  but,  like  grains  of 
wheat  in  the  Egyptian  pyramids,  the  appropriate 
time  comes  and  the  blessing,  or  curse,  of  past  acts 
falls  upon  the  individual.  Our  present  personality 
represents  the  potential  elements  of  the  subconscious 
self  at  the  end  of  a  past  life.  By  strengthening  the 
most  representative  of  these  elements,  we  choose  the 
characteristics  of  the  next  manifestation.  By  dwarf- 
ing our  present  possibilities  through  inaction,  we  limit 
our  next  life  to  the  expression  of  those  psychic  ele- 
ments, which  were  of  secondary  force  and  signifi- 
cance at  the  close  of  the  life  past.  And  so  in  ratio. 
This  is  the  spiritual  science  and  reason  of  morality 
and  it  shows  the  necessity  of  realizing  the  best  that  is 
within  us.  This  is  the  substance  of  philosophy.  The 
soul  is  to  itself  what  the  law  is  to  the  personality, 
the  arbiter  of  manifestation  and  progress.  In  the 
effort  of  the  soul  the  highest  activities  of  the  law 
are  embodied.  This  effort  assumes  highest  propor- 
tions and  most  pregnant  possibilities  when  it  is  un- 
selfish, when  it  fulfils  the  law  for  the  sake  of  the 
law.  Then  it  expresses  itself  in  work  for  the  sake  of 
work.  So  long  as  the  soul  identifies  itself  with  the 
variations  of  the  work  with  which  it  comes  into  rela- 
tion, so  long  must  it  bear  the  good  or  evil  fruits.  De- 
sire conditions  the  union  of  the  personality  with  the 
fruits  of  its  work.     Desire  identifies  the  mind  with 


192  The  Law. 

its  objects.  Mind  and  object  become  one.  Desire 
produces  desire,  and,  desire  recreated,  enslaves  the 
mind  and  produces  bondage.  The  law  is  the  instru- 
ment through  which  this  identification  and  the 
method  of  its  expression  is  established.  The  law  is 
the  wake  of  the  soul's  manifestation  and  also  the 
path.  It  is  the  wake,  because  it  judges  the  nature 
and  activity  of  the  doings  of  the  soul ;  it  is  the  path, 
because  the  doings  of  the  soul  have  future  relations, 
and  these  relations  become  the  path  of  that  future 
life  which  the  soul  must  tread.  The  law  is  relative. 
It  is  one  with  that  which  changes,  one  with  the  ris- 
ings and  the  fallings  of  birth  and  death.  Causation, 
space  and  time  are  the  avenues  of  its  expression,  and 
these  three  are  perpetually  conditioned.  That  which 
is  swept  before  the  all-powerful  law  is  the  personal- 
ity. It  changes  with  the  changes  which  the  law 
includes.  It  rises  with  birth,  and  it  sinks  with 
death.  It  soars  with  the  pleasing  circumstances  of 
life,  and  it  falls  with  the  displeasing.  The  teaching 
follows,  that  personality  is  of  relative  importance, 
the  essential  value  resting  with  the  spiritual  indi- 
vidual of  which  the  personality  is  a  shadow.  This 
individual  is  instructed  with  regard  to  the  inherent 
sacredness  and  divinity  of  his  nature,  with  regard  to 
his  freedom  from  instability  and  change.  The 
shadow  of  personality  has,  of  itself,  no  redeeming 
qualities  of  permanence,  no  glory  and  no  immortality. 
The  individual  is  instructed  that  he  is  sufficient  to 
himself.  In  this  respect  the  law  is  the  supreme 
teacher,  the  omniscient  and  the  holy  one.    Truly,  law 


The  Law.  193 

is  principle  and  the  Supreme  is  impersonal,  but  each 
may  be  personalized  and  spoken  of  as  personally 
existent,  personally  active  and  personally  responsive 
to  the  cry  of  the  soul.  The  light  of  this  idea  enables 
us  to  speak  of  the  law  as  the  supreme  teacher,  because 
its  activities  are  to  the  soul  what  the  ministrations 
of  a  teacher  are  to  the  mind  of  the  student.  Thus, 
even  the  stones  and  the  brook  are  our  teachers,  as 
the  master-poet  Shakespeare  has  said.  In  and  be- 
yond the  circumscriptions  of  temporal  life,  in  and 
beyond  the  life  of  change  and  relativity,  the  law  is 
operative  as  the  highest  teacher,  for  its  ultimate  ac- 
tivity leads  the  soul  into  the  acceptance  of  the  su- 
preme wisdom  and  more  especially  into  the  practical 
value  of  such  wisdom,  in  beauty  and  divinity  of  char- 
acter. The  modulations  of  physical  energy,  the  dis- 
tinctions of  material  form  and  environment  have 
their  respective  value  in  the  unfoldment  of  the  su- 
preme activity  of  the  law.  The  universal  energy  is, 
therefore,  often  represented  as  deity  in  manifesta- 
tion, as  law  in  manifestation.  The  meanest  thing  has 
its  position  on  the  upward  way.  The  stupendous 
rock  formations  of  mountains,  apparently  of  relative 
spiritual  worth,  form  the  manifesting  condition  of 
sublimest  beings.  Yet  the  molecular  elements  of 
rock,  in  themselves,  are  low  in  the  order  of  spiritual 
evolution,  for  "the  Spirit  is  asleep  in  the  stone." 
The  law  must  be  understood  to  be  perfect  under  all 
circumstances.  Its  saving  character  and  developing 
tendency  manifests  in  the  lowest  of  things.  The  ulti- 
mate achievement  of  this  developing  tendency  is  the 


194:  The  Law. 

perfection  of  the  finite  manifestation  of  Spirit,  the 
revelation  of  omniscience  and  omnipotence.  Thus 
do  we  see  onr  brother  in  the  stone  and  in  the  sun, 
maintain  harmony  in  personal  affairs,  and  assist 
the  harmony  of  the  social  and  spiritual  orders. 
It  is  for  this,  that  our  hearts  are  glad  at  the  marvel- 
lous revelations  of  life.  It  is  for  this,  that  in  the 
nature  of  the  soul  we  are  artists,  for  we  appreciate 
the  masterpieces  of  the  Greatest  of  Artists,  the  om- 
nipotent Spirit.  That  Spirit  is  the  Self  within,  the 
immortal,  the  ever  perfect,  the  ever  blessed,  the 
author  and  sustainer  and  unfolder  of  all  beauty, 
whether  material  or  spiritual. 

The  argosies  which  sail  on  the  sea  of  infinite  exist- 
ence in  the  quest  of  infinite  knowledge  are  many,  but 
noblest  of  all  are  those  which  bear  the  crew  who  have 
sought  the  depth  of  depths  and  have  found  the  path 
which  leads  out  of  the  shoreless  sea  into  the  haven  of 
infinite  peace.  Out  of  the  darkness,  out  of  the  night 
and  out  of  the  storm  and  havoc  of  material  distress, 
out  of  the  night  of  ignorance  and  beyond  the  rocks 
of  rebirth,  shines  the  golden  sun  of  truth.  Open  thy 
radiance,  O  Sun!  Shine  forth,  for  thy  light  is  not 
different  from  that  light  which  shines  in  the  soul! 
Thy  light  and  our  light  is  one.  The  ship  of  safety 
which  carries  the  mind  into  the  harbor  of  wisdom  is 
the  law  which  wots  of  the  darkness;  the  law  which 
is  of  the  radiance  of  the  Sun  of  truth.  That  sublime 
port  is  the  redemption  of  the  individual;  it  is  the 
sinking  of  the  cargo  of  personality,  a  burdensome 
freight  retarding  the  passing  of  the  ship  of  the  law. 


The  Law.  195 

To  the  law  be  glory  without  end  and  reverence  ever- 
lasting. Unto  the  law  must  all  wills  bow.  Unto  the 
law  must  all  do  homage,  for  the  law  is  the  redeemer 
of  the  world.  The  greatest  argument  for  the  exist- 
ence of  the  law  is  its  absolute  justice.  In  the  slightest 
variations  of  proportions  the  law  is  divinely  just. 
Nothing  which  comes  to  the  individual,  but  is  his. 
Nothing  can  befall  him,  but  what  he  deserves.  Noth- 
ing can  come  into  his  experience,  but  that  he  has 
attracted  it.  The  mind  is  like  a  loadstone.  Even  as 
the  loadstone  gathers  to  itself  the  iron  filings,  so  the 
individual  mind  accrues  the  external  counterpart  of 
the  things  it  desires.  All  is  within  the  individual. 
The  external  is  only  the  projection,  the  manifestation 
of  that  which  already  is.  The  reward  has  its  prior 
existence  in  the  good  deed,  in  meritorious  thought 
and  desire,  even  as  punishment,  sorrow  and  pain 
have  their  origin  in  previous  inharmonies  of  conduct. 
This  is  the  philosophical  idea  of  reward  and  punish- 
ment. Orthodox  conceptions  teach  belief  in  eternal 
reward  or  punishment  for  the  performance  of  finite 
acts.  Such  a  theory  is  nonsensical  on  its  very  face. 
The  discriminating  philosopher  relegates  it  to  the 
class  of  superstitions  which  have  for  ages  played 
havoc  with  the  mind  of  man,  engendering  many  and 
varied  forms  of  religious  insanity  and  finding  ex- 
pression in  dwarfed  personality.  The  activity  of  the 
law  is  paramount  in  justice.  Those  who  adhere  to 
foolish  belief  do  so  by  the  affliction  of  the  law  which 
visits  them  in  this  form.  People  with  such  beliefs 
pass  from  this  life  into  the  psychic  spheres  where  they 


196  The  Law. 

realize  that  their  beliefs  had  no  basis  in  fact.  Those 
who  believe  themselves  guilty  of  "eternal  damna- 
tion," whose  minds  have  been  impressed  with  the 
hideous  monstrosities  of  infernal  images,  for  a  time 
experience  the  torture  of  this  nightmare.  It  is  the 
manifestation  of  the  law  which  they  have  attracted. 
Others  pass  from  this  life  into  the  roseate  hue  of 
heavenly  images  and  hopes,  only  to  find  that  this  uni- 
verse is  a  universe  of  progression,  that  there  is  no 
eternal  standing-still  in  sublime  perfection  as  the  re- 
sults of  good  conduct.  So  long  as  personality  en- 
dures, so  long  will  the  soul  be  goaded  on  by  the 
relentless  activity  of  the  law.  The  soul  must 
advance;  it  cannot  be  idle.  Before  it  lie  indefi- 
nite possibilities  for  unfoldment.  Before  it  lies 
the  problem  of  existence,  and  that  problem,  to- 
gether with  many  other  problems  of  spiritual 
character,  must  be  solved.  The  soul  must  penetrate 
within  the  deepest  constituencies  of  Self.  The  quest 
for  knowledge  will  take  it  through  repeated  exist- 
ences and  repeated  experiences  until  "truth  is  seen, 
heard,  perceived  and  known."  The  law  is  complement 
to  the  soul.  "We  cannot  think  of  the  one  without 
thinking  of  the  other.  The  law  is  related  to  all  the 
activities  of  the  soul.  The  soul  is  causal  in  its  activ- 
ity, in  which  respect  it  is  positive.  As  the  recipient 
of  the  fruits  of  its  activities,  it  is  passive.  The  asso- 
ciative factor  in  this  connection  is  the  law.  The  dis- 
pensations of  the  law  are,  as  it  were,  separate  from 
the  activities  of  the  soul.  They  appear  to  precede  or 
follow,  but  in  reality  they  are  co-existent  with  the 


The  Law.  197 

manifestations  of  personality.  The  soul  manifests, 
and  in  the  manifestation  is  law.  Law  and  the  activ- 
ities of  the  soul  are  one.  The  soul,  in  its  divine  real- 
ity, however,  is  beyond  the  operations  of  the  law.  It 
is  only  in  a  relative  sense  that  the  soul  and  the  law 
are  identical.  In  the  realm  of  finiteness  the  soul  and 
the  law  associate.  Both  are  within  the  boundaries  of 
this  universe  of  causation,  but  that  which  is  beyond 
this  universe  is  Self  and  Self,  therefore,  is  beyond 
law.  The  assertion  of  Self  is  thus  the  most  exalted 
and  necessary  of  duties.  The  worship  of  Self  is  the 
highest  religion.  The  pursuit  of  the  understanding 
of  Self  is  the  greatest  of  tasks.  In  the  realization 
of  the  highest  Self,  the  law  is  realized.  The  attitude 
taken  by  the  individual  to  the  law  involves  the  great- 
est responsibility.  As  he  wisely  discriminates  or 
chooses  illy,  the  fluctuations  of  the  law  carry  him  to 
exalted  heights  or  cast  him  into  the  throes  of  perdi- 
tion. The  law  is  the  law  of  retrogression  as  well  as 
of  progression.  It  lies  with  the  law  to  uplift  beyond 
the  present  into  the  empyrean  of  truth,  or  to  cast 
down  into  the  darkest  darkness,  into  the  deep  abyss 
of  retrogression.  So  many  facts  and  circumstances 
hinge,  one  upon  the  other.  The  performance  of  a 
single  act  of  righteousness  has  its  collective  value  on 
surroundings,  and  the  doing  of  a  wrong  act  reaches 
out  beyond  the  personal  aura,  affecting  the  lives  of 
others.  It  is  not  only  ourselves  we  have  to  consider 
in  the  performance  of  actions,  but  the  entire  field  of 
our  influence.  The  responsibility  is  not  alone  per- 
sonal, but  extends  to  others.     If  a  man  should  retire 


198  The  Law. 

to  the  mountain  fastnesses,  nevermore  coming  into 
contact  with  civilization,  yet  should  he  think  one 
great  thought,  or  perform  one  great  act  the  influence 
would  radiate  beyond  the  confines  of  space,  and  touch 
some  great  soul  who  would  communicate  the  spirit 
of  the  thought  or  of  the  act  to  the  world.  The  law 
reaches  out  beyond  the  limitations  of  space  and  time. 
It  carries  its  potency  with  the  current  of  psychic 
motion.  Thought,  the  influence  of  deeds  and  the 
value  of  desire  are  not  conditioned  by  physical  form 
or  force.  Being  of  the  nature  of  mental  substances 
and  activity,  they  come  under  the  vibrations  of  su- 
persensuous  and  sensibly  imperceptible  motion.  The 
conditions  of  mind  are  not  regulated  by  the  visible 
conditions  of  form.  The  psychic  currents  of  thought 
are  superior  to  the  power  and  the  motion  of  physi- 
cal vibrations.  Thought  is  the  dominating  vibration, 
initiating  the  impulse  of  evolution  and  civilization. 
Thought  disposes  personal  tendencies  in  their  physi- 
cal relation.  Thought,  constituting  the  soul  of  con- 
duct, and  conduct  determining  the  physical  expres- 
sion of  the  soul  of  conduct,  the  result  of  conduct  pre- 
serves or  undermines  physical  health.  That  which 
cements  the  soul  of  conduct  or  thought  with  result 
to  the  physical  frame  is  the  law  of  causation,  the  law 
of  compensation.  The  law  is  appreciative  only  of 
the  soul.  Form  is  relative  and  the  law  is  unsparing 
of  form.  Form  is  the  condition  of  expiation.  It 
is  as  the  inhabitant  of  the  body  that  we  suffer  the 
bitter  experience  of  demerit.  In  psychic  life,  after 
death,  the  soul  has  the  opportunity  of  transforming 


The  Law.  199 

past  acts  into  the  possibilities  and  tendencies  of  a 
life  to  come.  Here  is  work,  here  the  performance  of 
duty,  here  the  working  out  of  the  fruit  of  past  acts, 
the  development  of  tendencies  and  possibilities.  The 
proper  working  out  of  present  tendencies  and  possi- 
bilities determines  the  possibilities  and  the  tenden- 
cies, the  talents  and  the  genius  of  the  next  manifesta- 
tion; their  misuse  increases  limitations,  mars  the 
area  of  activity  and  possibility  of  present  talents,  so 
that  the  next  life  will  be  far  less  in  potential  evolu- 
tion. 

The  law  is  positive  in  its  activity  during  earthly 
life,  passive  in  its  activity  after  earth  life.  The  law 
is  the  measure  of  individual  perfection.  It  places 
personalities  in  relation  to  other  personalities.  It 
shifts  circumstances  and  conditions,  but  the  goal  of 
its  efforts  and  the  significance  of  its  activity  is  the 
development,  the  accentuation,  the  realization  of  in- 
dividuality ;  and  the  realization  of  true  individuality 
is  the  realization  of  supreme  truth,  the  truth  that 
"all  that  exists  is  one,"  the  truth  that  there  is  but  one 
Supreme  Individual,  who  is  the  soul  of  the  souls  of 
all  animate  and  inanimate  objects.  Color  and  light, 
form  and  beauty  are  the  variations  of  finite  life, 
lending  appearance  of  reality  to  things  unreal.  They 
constitute  the  illusion  which  emphasizes  form  and 
the  needs  of  form,  which  considers  the  mind  and  its 
innumerable  desires  and  idiosyncracies  of  emotion 
and  understanding.  They  blind  the  mortal  eye  to  the 
color  and  the  light  and  the  form  and  the  beauty  of 
higher  realms.     The  growth  and  perfection  of  indi- 


200  The  Law. 

viduality  is  the  object  of  the  law.  For  a  time  it 
presents  the  personality  with  the  closeness  of  an- 
other personality,  but  it  is  only  that  both  separately 
develop  through  mutual  influence.  The  individuality 
reaches  higher  degree  of  expression  through  asso- 
ciation. This  thought  gives  a  true  appreciation  of 
the  meaning  and  the  influence  of  friendship.  It 
gives  a  new  value  to  friendship  and  exalts  it  beyond 
its  limited  and  accustomed  understanding.  Who  are 
our  friends  ?  Those  who  are  bound  by  the  ties  of 
affection  ?  Affection  is  often  a  garb  of  disguise  con- 
cealing selfishness.  The  individual  may  not  be  con- 
scious of  this  disguise,  but  a  little  reflection  into  the 
nature  of  his  feelings  and  conduct  frequently  leads 
to  self-accusation  and  the  consciousness  of  selfish 
attitudes.  Friendship  has  its  basis  in  common  need. 
It  has  its  influence  and  value  in  the  development  of 
mind  and  character.  Appreciation  of  talents,  of  pos- 
sibilities, of  characteristics  of  conduct  is  the  vital 
bond.  We  need  but  consider  the  sustaining  element 
in  our  associations  to  learn  the  reason  why  they  are, 
and  why  they  persist.  It  is  sameness  of  ideals  and 
sameness  of  appreciation.  In  true  friendships, 
though  there  is  often  separation  through  incompati- 
bilities of  temper,  there  is  never  a  loss  of  apprecia- 
tion. When  friendship  has  its  source  in  the  feelings 
or  desires,  it  is  short-lived,  selfish  in  expression,  and 
finally  dies;  but  friendship  based  on  artistic,  on 
philosophical,  on  educational,  on  literary,  on  musi- 
cal appreciation,  friendship  based  on  excellent  qual: 
ities  of  conduct,  lives  on  and  on,  though  separated  by 


The  Law.  201 

years  and  great  distance.  Emotional  misunderstand- 
ings, though  they  may  separate  friends,  never  dimin- 
ish their  mutual  appreciation.  This  is  because 
development  has  come  through  the  association.  With 
the  help  of  friends  we  reach  beyond  ourselves,  dis- 
cover truths  or  possibilities  concerning  our  nature  of 
which  we  should  otherwise  never  dream.  We  can  no 
more  separate  the  personality  of  our  friends  from 
our  life  than  we  could,  or  would,  separate  from  our 
life  the  development  experienced  through  them. 
"Friends  in  need  are  friends  indeed"  is  true  in  a 
material  sense,  but  this  proverb  is  of  vaster  truth 
in  a  mental  and  a  psycho-spiritual  sense.  Material 
things  are  of  assistance  to  the  wants  of  the  material. 
Spiritual  values  are  of  incomparably  greater  import- 
ance. Man  may  die  from  physical  inanition,  but 
this  death  is  naught  in  comparison  with  the  death, 
darkness  and  ignorance  following  in  the  wake  of 
mental  and  spiritual  inanition.  What  befalls  the 
body,  or  its  needs,  is  only  a  minor  sorrow  and  loss, 
but  the  happenings  to  the  mind  and  heart  in  perver- 
sion of  emotions  is  the  greatest  of  losses.  With 
this  idea  in  mind,  the  Christ  said:  "What  doth  it 
profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his 
immortal  soul  ?" 

Poverty  is  the  maker  of  men  and  also  the  maker 
of  spiritual  heroes.  One  of  the  dangers  of  wealth 
is  the  possibility  of  unlimited  satisfaction  of  desires. 
Satisfaction  inflames  and  renews  desire.  The  great- 
est beggar  is  he  whose  needs  are  most.  His  mind  is 
ever  in  the  boxcar's  frame.    What  is  out  of  the  reach 


202  The  Law. 

of  possession  is  generally  out  of  the  reach  of  desire. 
This  is  the  value  of  renunciation;  though  a  man 
be  possessed  of  boundless  wealth,  though  his  rai- 
ment be  magnificent  and  his  fare  sumptuous,  if  he 
remains  unattached  to  these  things,  he  has  truly 
renounced  the  vanities  of  existence.  A  man  labor- 
ing under  the  most  trying  poverty,  if  his  mind  is 
burdened  with  desires,  is  more  miserable  through 
his  desires  than  through  his  needs.  The  attitude  of 
mind  is  the  determinating  factor.  The  saint,  though 
surrounded  with  things  material,  attaches  no  value  to 
them.  The  worldly-minded,  though  in  the  throes  of 
ill  fortune,  sets  his  heart  on  the  things  beyond  his 
gaining.  The  law  first  develops  the  material  and 
then  the  mental.  It  is  the  mental  development  which 
is  the  triumph  of  the  law,  the  initiatory  impulse  to 
the  perfection  of  mind,  to  the  realization  of  its  pow- 
ers, to  the  perfection  of  the  soul  and  the  realization 
of  its  divinity.  The  mind  is  the  containing  element 
and  measure  of  material  things.  We  must  try  to 
search  beneath  the  surface  of  the  material  and  appre- 
ciate the  mental  qualities.  It  is  these  that  determine 
the  essence  of  conduct.  If  we  do  this,  we  will  fre- 
quently find  that  apparently  questionable  conduct  is 
perfect  in  meaning.  The  intention  being  good  the 
value  of  the  deed,  though  often  the  symbol  of  unde- 
veloped understanding,  must  be  accordingly  weighed. 
We  must  not  too  quickly  condemn.  The  law  considers 
the  value  of  conduct  and  comprehends  the  inner  men- 
tal significance.  It  understands  the  motive  princi- 
ples of  desire.    It  is  mindful  of  limitations  of  intelli- 


The  Law.  203 

gence,  and  rewards  or  punishes  in  just  ratio  to  the 
understanding  of  right  and  wrong.  Justice  and 
mercy  are  the  co-existing  features  of  the  law.  We 
have  been  asking  a  personal  God  to  forgive  us  our  tres- 
passes, when  no  trespass  can  be  forgiven  or  forgotten 
in  the  final  sense.  Wrong  conduct  and  limited  ex- 
pression of  the  past,  inversion  of  possibilities  must 
be  eradicated  by  right  conduct  in  the  future,  and 
by  developing  advantages  and  talents.  We  have 
sinned  against  our  own  nature,  and  it  is  we  alone 
who  can  forgive  ourselves.  We  have  buried  our  tal- 
ents in  the  ground,  and  we  must  consequently  suffer 
the  penalty  of  loss.  We  have  wasted  our  possibilities, 
and  we  must  accept  consequent  limitations.  We  are 
the  doers  or  the  undoers  of  our  fortune. 

It  is  good  to  bear  in  mind  the  values  of  life  and 
the  meaning  of  experiences.  It  is  good  to  appreciate 
our  friends,  not  in  an  emotional  sense  as  much  as  in 
a  consideration  of  their  developing  influence  in  our 
lives.  It  is  good  to  appreciate  the  resurrecting  influ- 
ence of  misfortune.  It  is  good  to  weigh  fortune  in 
the  balance  so  that  we  are  not  overcome  by  pleasure 
and  the  satisfaction  of  desire;  so  that  in  the  end  we 
are  not  the  victims  of  the  follies  of  the  senses.  All 
things  which  rise,  fall.  All  things  which  reach  a 
climax,  descend.  This  is  particularly  true  of  mate- 
rial circumstances.  To-day  we  are  in  the  rush  of  ma- 
terial progress ;  to-morrow  we  are  the  victims  of  our 
own  shortcomings.  It  is  we  who  direct  the  mental 
currents  that  express  themselves  in  physical  gain 
or  loss.     Hope,  boundless  hope,  is  our  guiding  star 


204  The  Law. 

in  this  ocean  of  life  and  that  hope  is  the  spirit  of  the 
law. 

Nothing  which  comes  into  existence,  nothing 
which  is  associated  with  our  experience,  no  event 
which  takes  place,  but  is  the  sequence  of  the  law. 
From  the  molecule  to  the  vastest  sun,  from  the  mi- 
nute, structureless  amoeba  to  the  most  spiritual  being, 
and  the  most  cultured  intelligence,  this  law  is  opera- 
tive. All  are  governed  equally  and  impartially. 
Obedience  ensures  safety;  disobedience  entails  mis- 
ery. In  the  complex  situations  of  life,  thought  and 
action,  in  all  the  experiences  of  an  individual,  of  a 
community,  of  a  nation,  of  an  age,  of  a  humanity, 
the  law  of  cause  and  effect  holds.  The  operation  of 
this  law  is  as  much  a  mystery  as  is  birth,  death  or 
life.  No  one  knows  why  a  cause  must  become  an 
effect,  or  why  an  effect,  in  turn,  must  become  the 
cause  of  another  effect.  The  scientist  in  his  search 
for  knowledge,  the  philosopher  in  his  inquiry  for 
truth,  the  advanced  spiritual  person  in  his  constant 
longing  for  spiritual  bliss  and  Deity,  must  come  to 
the  origin,  to  the  root  and  manifesting  cause.  The 
effect  then  is  traced,  and  the  path  by  which  the  cause 
was  learned  is  corroborated.  Each  day  we  generate 
innumerable  causes  and  reap  the  effects  of  number- 
less causes  generated,  through  our  actions  in  the  past. 
The  actions  of  the  present  will  become  other  causes 
to  pursue  us,  either  for  happiness  or  misery. 

Thoroughly  imbued  with  these  thoughts,  we  will 
endeavor  to  renovate  our  character,  and  thus  gain 
a  transcendent  attitude  toward  life,  a  deeper  insight 


The  Law.  205 

into  many  things  hitherto  unappreciated.  We  will, 
in  a  somewhat  better  way,  understand  the  relations 
and  responsibilities  we  bear  to  ourselves,  to  our  sur- 
roundings and  to  all  those  with  whom  we  come  in 
contact.  We  will  realize  the  all-importance  of  con- 
duct, the  sterling  and  lasting  qualities  of  good  deeds, 
the  evil  and  the  misery  of  wrong-doing.  Our  daily 
experience  teaches  us  that  the  results  of  sin  are  pain, 
and  if  inverted  acts,  thoughts  and  words  are  per- 
sisted in,  they  will  ultimately  cause  spiritual  death 
even  as  the  transgression  of  any  of  the  natural  laws, 
if  carried  on  to  any  degree,  will  terminate  in  the 
decay  and  destruction  of  the  body.  We  are  likewise 
acquainted  with  the  knowledge,  that  right  living 
insures  health,  happiness  and  a  form  of  bliss  of  which 
no  one  can  deprive  us.  We  know  all  these  things, 
but  the  truth  is  we  know  them  only  theoretically. 
Practically,  they  are  far  removed  from  our  lives. 
There  is  an  ocean  of  difference  between  theoretical 
and  practical  knowledge.  Practical  knowledge  is 
practical  truth  and  the  appreciation  of  the  practical 
value  of  truth ;  practical  knowledge  is  the  proper 
adaptation  of  consciousness  to  the  things  of  which 
practical  knowledge  informs  us.  Practical  knowl- 
edge determines  practical  attitudes.  No  one  knowing 
poisonous  herbs  consumes  them.  Spiritually  ap- 
plied, practical  knowledge  is  the  full  understanding 
of  truths  which  for  ages  man  has  believed,  and  only 
partially  realized.  Volumes  upon  volumes  have  been 
written  on  spiritual  facts.  Learned  disquisitions  and 
treatises  have  been  carried  on  and  distributed,  but 


206  The  Law. 

still  the  average  man  remains  lamentably  ignorant  of 
spiritual  truths.  They  have  no  practical  meaning  in 
his  life.  They  do  not  express  themselves  in  conduct 
and  in  life,  because  they  are  not  truly  known  and 
appreciated.  Many  flatter  themselves  that  they  alone 
know  and  are  of  the  faith.  But  how  far  they  miss 
the  mark;  how  far  beneath  are  they  compared  to 
the  spiritual  position  they  assume.  In  the  face  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  effects  that  will  follow  certain  ac- 
tions, they  nevertheless  unconscientiously  pursue 
them.  In  that  respect  man,  of  all  breathing  creatures, 
alone  violates  his  intelligence  and  the  principle  of  his 
existence  by  adopting  a  course  of  conduct  in  antagon- 
ism to  the  privileged  understanding  of  the  law.  The 
beast  is  guided  by  its  instinct  and  follows,  with 
never-failing  accuracy,  the  law  of  cause  and  effect, 
instinctively  avoiding  the  things  inimical  to  its 
growth  and  larger  experience.  The  universe  is  con- 
trolled by  law  and  the  result  is  perfect  harmony. 
Man  alone,  in  spite  of  his  added  faculty  of  reason, 
violates  his  better  knowledge  to  quell  the  fever  of 
desire,  or  to  satisfy  some  selfish  and  inordinate  mo- 
tive. "When  that  happens,  he  is  out  of  harmony  with 
the  universe.  Culture  and  the  spirit  of  individual 
restraint  have  done  much  to  control  social  life.  Life 
is  composed  of  numberless  individual  units.  It  is 
only  through  the  development  of  the  individual  that 
any  great  degree  of  evolution  can  be  expected.  The 
race  has  developed  according  to  evolutionary  laws 
expressed  through  minds  of  men  who  have  formulated 
national  codes  of  law,  or  furthered  the  development 


The  Law.  207 

and  expression  of  ethical  systems.  The  individual 
must  grow,  develop  the  area  of  expression,  and  en- 
large the  width  of  moral  and  spiritual  understanding. 
Even  the  greatest  values  have  selfish  motive  power. 
Show  people  the  value  of  being  moral,  the  value  of 
educating  the  mind  to  higher  intellectual  standards, 
show  them  the  value  of  spiritual  effort,  the  signifi- 
cance of  spiritual  truth,  the  scientific  basis  of  faith 
and  the  ground  for  spiritual  evolution,  and  there  will 
be  a  noteworthy  rise  in  the  scale  of  racial  develop- 
ment. It  is  hard  to  convert  the  individual  to  the 
idea  that  the  sinking  of  private  for  larger  interest  is 
better  for  himself.  Reason  even  is  selfish.  We  argue 
to  our  advantage,  and  reason  in  keeping  with  preju- 
dice. We  will  not  see  the  open  truth ;  we  blind  our- 
selves to  the  truth  which  calls  for  the  suppression  of 
personal  interests.  In  spite  of  selfish  attitudes  on 
the  part  of  the  individual,  social  advantages  have 
been  furthered.  Self -protection  and  self -maintenance 
drew  the  individual  into  obedience  to  social  and  moral 
law.  Selfish  desires  are  crushed  in  the  interest  of 
hygiene,  and  so  evolution  continues,  segregating  and 
eliminating,  coercing  and  freeing.  This  freedom  and 
this  coercion  is  the  manifestation  of  the  law  in  its 
social  connection.  This  law  must  be  obeyed,  for 
obedience  to  the  law  is  the  furtherance  of  individual 
as  well  as  social  interest.  Blindness  of  perception 
and  density  of  understanding  often  lead  the  indi- 
vidual to  rebel  against  social  law,  but  rebellion  is 
met  by  collective  resistance.  It  is  the  law  voicing 
its  displeasure  through  human  condemnation.    There 


208  The  Law. 

are  many  transgressions,  however,  which  cannot  be 
reached  by  human  law,  the  social  counterpart  of  the 
cosmic  law.  Such  are  secret  thoughts  of  evil  charac- 
ter, perverted  desires  and  the  sending  forth  of  inhar- 
monious vibrations  and  influences.  This  manner  of 
transgression  is  met  by  most  active  punishment.  It 
is  special  and  individual. 

The  law  brooks  no  refraction.  This  thought  causes 
the  soul  to  exult.  Aspiration  does  not  cease,  because 
of  the  knowledge  of  the  law.  It  is  a  thousand  times 
increased.  It  is  afforded  larger  vistas,  vaster  fields 
of  expression,  far  greater  areas  of  activity.  The  law 
is  uniform  and  unifying;  the  law  is  Self-searching 
and  Self-discovering.  The  law  is  the  manifestation 
of  and  method  for  the  realization  of  deity.  It  lifts 
from  immeasurable  depths  to  immeasurable  heights.  It 
raises  from  ignorance  to  enlightenment.  The  law,  by 
its  nature,  is  teacher  and  knowledge.  Blessed  is  he 
who  fears  the  law  in  the  meaning  of  reverence  and 
religious  regard.  The  law  is  the  truth,  the  way  and 
the  light,  and  all  those  who  have  realized  Self  are 
one  with  the  law.  "I  am  the  Way,  the  Truth  and 
the  Light,"  They  have  trodden  the  Noble  Way 
which  is  the  path  of  the  law.  They  have  reached 
the  end  of  knowledge  and  have  realized  the  essence 
of  truth.  They  have  realized  the  glory  of  the  light 
within,  and  are  at  oneness  with  the  life  and  the  light 
of  the  universe. 

In  the  law  is  peace.  The  aim  of  personal  effort  and 
evolution  is  peace,  and  peace  consists  in  the  harmoniz- 
ing of  discordant  vibrations  of  personality  and  in  the 


The  Law.  209 

adjustment  of  conflicting  emotions.  Peace  is  the  res- 
toration of  equilibrium,  discord,  the  absence  of  equi- 
librium. Control  is  the  method  by  which  we  may  over- 
come conflicting  conditions.  Control  is  the  practical 
interpretation  of  knowledge ;  knowledge  the  means  by 
which  control  is  possible.  Illumination  of  mind, 
strength  of  character,  definiteness  of  purpose,  culti- 
vation of  lasting  qualities  are  the  results  of  control. 
Nothing  of  worth  can  be  accomplished  through  com- 
placent ease.  Unselfish,  selfless  work  is  needed,  with- 
out thought  of  compensation;  work  because  it  is  the 
avenue  of  development  and  path  of  expression.  Work, 
because  work  is  its  own  reward  and  because  it  en- 
larges the  mental  and  psychic  area,  assuring  power 
and  dominion.  The  law  is  fulfilled  through  work, 
for,  in  the  end,  all  work  is  spiritual  as  spiritual 
meaning  is  given  it.  It  is  spiritual  as  spiritual  hope 
and  aspiration  are  asociated  with  it.  Suddhipam- 
haka,  the  illustrious  follower  of  Buddha,  realized  the 
highest  truth  amid  his  menial  duties  of  sweeping  in 
a  monastery.  The  lowest  work  is  the  greatest,  when 
it  is  spiritualized.  Power  and  knowledge  await  the 
patient  toiler  who  consecrates  his  work.  The  law  is 
the  dispenser  of  the  quality  and  character  of  the 
work.  The  individual  will  be  given  the  opportunity 
to  develop,  and  in  the  development  is  expression  and 
growth.  It  is  necessary  to  work  along  lines  which 
are  congenial,  unless  uncongenial  work  is  unselfishly 
performed.  Even  through  such  work  progression  is 
possible.  The  law  knows  the  needs  of  all.  It  accord- 
ingly disposes  its  activities  in  a  suitable  manner.    In 


210  The  Law. 

work,  the  body,  the  mind,  the  psychic  element,  all 
must  have  their  proper  sphere  of  usefulness.  The 
body  must  not  be  ignored.  It  is  of  value  to  growth. 
The  body  must  not  be  underfed,  nor  permitted  to  un- 
dergo austerities.  The  age  of  austerities  is  past. 
Only  in  certain  individual  instances  may  they  be 
practiced.  The  body  must  be  supported,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  diligently  and  serviceably  perform  the  duties 
allotted  it.  Every  mental  condition  has  its  physical 
import,  and  neither  is  to  be  over-emphasized,  neither 
underrated.  They  have  their  respective  value  and, 
during  the  life  incarnate,  both  the  mental  and  the 
physical  must  be  attended  to  before  any  perfect  ex- 
pression is  possible.  We  are  out  of  the  conditions 
where  half-truths  and  half-values  held  sway.  It  is  the 
time  when  everything  has  its  appointed  value.  The 
whole  man  must  be  cultivated.  Each  and  every  pos- 
sibility must  be  considered  and  fully  recognized  as 
a  developing  factor.  The  desire  element,  the  psychic 
element,  the  physical,  the  mental,  the  spiritual,  all 
have  theire  sphere  of  import  and  utility.  They  must 
be  developed,  and  that  development  is  more  especially 
furthered  when  the  law  of  compensation  becomes  a 
fact  in  conscious  experience  and  when  its  require- 
ments are  fulfilled. 


THE  SPIKIT  OF  CONTROL. 


CHAPTER   IX. 


THE   SPIRIT  OF   CONTROL. 


This  is  an  age  of  discovery.  We  are  coming 
into  the  knowledge  of  truths,  hitherto  almost  in- 
credible. It  is  an  age  of  untiring  research  and 
of  ponderous  development.  Evolution  is  in  a  pro- 
gressive whirl.  Each  month  introduces  some  new 
discovery  of  import.  The  greatest  and  the  most 
profound  of  these  discoveries,  however,  are  those 
that  pertain  to  the  exploration  of  the  human  mind. 
These  discoveries  are  contained  in  that  latest  and  far- 
from-accomplished  science,  psychology.  We  have  had 
our  Keplers  and  our  Galileos  in  astronomy.  We  are 
to  have  them  in  psychology,  for  that  science  is  still 
in  its  infancy.  So  much  is  still  in  the  dark ;  so  much 
light  must  still  be  thrown  on  already  known  truths 
that  but  a  small  portion  of  psychological  speculation 
is  of  practical  benefit.  Contemporaneous  with  the 
marvellous  discoveries  of  psychological  character  has 
been  the  noteworthy  rise  and  spread  of  religious  cults 
whose  doctrines  embrace  much  of  interest  to  the  stu- 
dent. Psychology  is  the  science  which  considers  the 
activities  of  the  mind,  connotes  the  different  phases 
of  mental  causation,  and  studies  the  relations  be- 
tween the  mind  and  the  body.  The  latter  part 
explains  the  cause  and  the  removal  of  many  phys- 


214  The  Spirit  of  Control. 

ical  infirmities,  having  purely  a  mental  origin.  It 
considers  the  cure  of  many  distempers  which  the 
religio-psychological  cults  attribute  to  the  credence 
and  the  following  of  their  respective  teachings.  The 
hygienic  and  curative  values  of  mind  are  established. 
They  are  no  longer  in  the  putative  sphere  for  scien- 
tists of  eminent  repute  recognize  the  value  of  men- 
tal therapeutics.  The  mind  has  been  as  scrutiniz- 
ingly  observed  and  analyzed  as  the  minute  and 
microscopic  facts  on  which  chemistry  is  based.  It  is 
no  longer  speculative  but  empirical  knowledge  which 
substantiates  theory.  Facts  are  wanted,  and  theories 
are  swept  aside  if  they  fail  of  practical  application. 
Modern  philosophies  are  founded  on  the  empiricism 
of  known  quantities.  The  study  of  the  powers  and 
faculties  of  the  mind  is  now  the  principle  of  sciences ; 
first,  because  it  considers  the  most  important  of  all 
phenomena  which  may  come  under  human  observa- 
tion and  arouse  human  interest;  second,  because  it 
exploits  the  most  powerful  and  finest  of  forces,  the 
force  of  mind.  This  last  reason  is  not  as  yet  fully 
appreciated.  Appreciation  can  come  only  when  suf- 
ficient facts  are  discovered  that  will  awaken  the 
soul  of  man  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truths  which 
they  infer. 

We  have  stumbled  on  numerous  discoveries  which 
evidently  prove  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  but,  as 
material  skepticism  is  ever  in  the  foreground  of 
human  thought,  even  these  significant  discoveries 
have  been  passed  by.  Guided  in  their  reasoning  by 
the  tangible  and  the  sensibly  perceptible,  most  men 


The  Spirit  of  Control.  215 

cannot  think  beyond  the  body.     They  cannot  under- 
stand the  existence  of  forces  and  forms  beyond  the 
senses.    The  senses  are  the  deceivers  of  the  mind.    In 
tellectual  growth  and  scientific  achievement  have  de- 
veloped only  in  spite  of  the  senses.     The  senses  in 
themselves   are   limitations.      Beyond   their  limited 
area  of  activity  they  err.     Reason  has  advanced  the 
human  mind  and  unchained  the  fetters  of  ignorance 
of  the  senses.     Reason  has  corrected  impressions  of 
the  size  and  form  of  the  heavenly  bodies  and  revealed 
the  existence  of  the  finer  physical  forces,  such  as 
electricity.    Reason  has  developed  the  conception  and 
discovery  of  mental  forces,  influences  and  vibrations, 
of  the  power  of  mind,  its  potent  physical  relation  and 
of  the  survival  of  mental  forms  and  forces  at  the  dis- 
solution of  their  physical  counterparts.     Psychology 
has  been  the  method  of  this  super-perception  which 
assures  us  of  the  reality  and  the  all-importance  of  the 
soul.    Psychology,  continuing  its  persistent  investiga- 
tion, will  increase  this  super-perception  and  discover 
facts  making  us  sensible  of  the  dignity  and  divinity 
of  human  life,  and  of  the  immortality  of  the  essence 
we  call  the  soul.     They  will  prove  incentives  to  the 
development  of  character,  for  in  the  light  of  immor- 
tality and  truth  there  is  meaning  and  nobility  to 
effort.     The  sun  of  truth  and  light  shall  dawn,  and 
the  soul  have  a  glimpse  of  its  nature.    The  difference 
between  efforts,  stimulated  by  this  knowledge,  and 
efforts  stimulated  by  semi -credence,  is  as  distinct  as 
the  light  of  the  day  from  the  darkness  of  night. 

The  soul  cannot  truly  exert  itself,  save  through  a 


216  The  Spirit  of  Control. 

proper  motive.  For  ages  past,  the  religious  theories 
of  the  world  have  been  adhered  to  with  only  minor 
intelligence  and  with  scarcely  any  rational  basis  of 
belief.  That  is  why  we  have  half-religions  and  sec- 
tarianism. That  is  why  there  have  been  so  few  who 
have  realized  the  truth  of  religion,  the  essence  of  their 
soul,  and  the  hidden  powers  and  faculties  of  the 
mind.  From  time  immemorial,  man  has  been  taught 
to  believe  in  signs  and  symbols  savoring  of  the  mirac- 
ulous. With  the  advent  of  intellectual  freedom  and 
religious  tolerance,  and  with  the  coming  of  scientific 
truth,  these  religious  beliefs  were  thrown  overboard. 
Half  the  world  came  to  believe  them  ridiculous  and 
unworthy  of  mention  or  investigation.  With  the 
evolution  of  psychology,  facts  more  wonderful  than 
the  wildest  religious  fancies  and  relating  to  the  nature 
and  power  of  the  mind  were  circulated.  It  is  said 
that  even  in  the  most  flighty  myth  there  is  a  relation 
to  some  fundamental  fact.  This  is  true.  The  human 
mind  cannot  conceive  the  absolutely  inconceivable ; 
it  cannot  imagine  the  absolutely  impossible.  The 
mind  is  a  fact  in  nature  and  cannot  perceive  facts 
which  have  no  definite  connection  with  nature.  There- 
fore, in  the  speculations  of  theology,  in  the  dreams  of 
philosophies,  in  the  vagaries  of  folk-lore,  in  the  fan- 
cies of  poetry,  in  the  exaggerations  of  mythologies,  in 
the  superstitions  of  legends,  in  the  imaginations  of 
sacred  literature,  is  the  all-permeating  truth,  how- 
ever feebly  expressed  and  dimly  perceived.  The  mind 
is  not  satisfied  with  its  own  findings,  and  through  that 
dissatisfaction  the  imagination  is  bom.     The  imag- 


The  Spirit  of  Control.  217 

ination  is  only  a  partial  manifestation  of  a  faculty- 
greater  and  more  equipped  in  the  pursuit  of  knowl- 
edge, the  faculty  of  intuition,  or,  as  it  is  more  com- 
monly called,  inspiration.  There  is  more  than  one 
method  of  perceiving  the  truth.  Just  as  the  material 
sciences  developed  the  telescope  and  the  microscope, 
and  the  different  measurements  whereby  the  senses 
are  assisted  in  the  observation  of  phenomena,  so  the 
spiritual  and  menta-psychical  sciences  develop  means 
whereby  the  natural  faculties  of  reason  and  of  the 
senses  are  assisted  in  the  perception  and  observation  of 
phenomena  beyond  the  rational  and  the  sensible.  As 
there  is  a  mile  beyond  the  mile  on  which  we  tread,  and 
knowledge  beyond  our  present  understanding,  so  there 
is  motion,  form  and  force  beyond  our  ordinary  per- 
ception. These  motions,  forms  and  forces,  composed 
of  rarer  substances  and  vibrations,  are  perceived  only 
by  enlarging  the  natural  area  of  physical  vision, 
hearing  and  feeling.  The  conditions  by  which  this  is 
accomplished  are  purely  psychic  and,  for  a  true  ap- 
preciation of  them,  a  perfect  knowledge  of  practical 
psychology  is  necessary.  It  is  good  to  peruse  the 
speculations  of  university  professors,  but  it  is  better 
to  personally  investigate.  Our  knowledge  is  all  sec- 
ond-hand. We  accept  credit-worthy  inferences  of 
others,  but  such  acceptance  is  not  knowledge;  it  is 
merely  belief.  We  must  know  before  we  can  evolve. 
All  evolution  depends  on  the  development  of  mind 
and  feeling.  That  development  will  be  neglected,  if 
it  has  no  other  stimulus  than  belief.  Furthered  by 
knowledge,   each  stimulus  to  conduct  is  powerful; 


218  The  Spirit  of  Control. 

each  effort  at  development  a  powerful  effort;  each 
research  and  investigation,  deep  and  fruit-bearing. 
We  must  equip  the  mind  with  knowledge.  What  men 
know  is  the  criterion  of  what  they  are.  So  in  spiritual 
matters  the  mind  must  know.  It  cannot  accept  the 
researches  of  others  as  final.  Nothing  is  imperative 
or  absolutely  authoritative.  ISTo  one  is  infallible. 
What  we  ourselves  discern,  that  we  term  knowledge. 
There  is  the  knowledge  of  direct  perception ;  there  is 
the  knowledge  which  comes  through  inference.  One 
is  empirical,  the  other  speculative.  Yet  the  speculat- 
ive is  so  intimately  related  to  the  empirical  that,  when 
both  are  earnestly  and  capably  furthered,  they  have 
an  equal  basis  in  fact.  The  speculative  is  the  sub- 
jective element  of  practical  knowledge.  We  call  those 
external  features  of  nature  which  we  see  and  feel  the 
realities,  and  our  knowledge  and  classification  of 
them  constitutes  empiricism,  but  the  borderland  of 
the  empirical  is  limited.  Reviewing  the  development 
of  the  science  of  chemistry  we  perceive  the  progress  it 
has  made  in  the  direction  of  psychology.  We  now 
have  instruments  disclosing  the  physical  associations 
of  mental  states.  We  have  instruments  which  meas- 
ure the  force  and  duration  of  menta-psychical  vibra- 
tions. This  progress  continues  with  startling  prom- 
ises. There  is  such  a  thing  as  the  soul  of  a  word,  and 
when  we  are  in  touch  with  it  we  get  the  full  meaning. 
As  example,  take  the  word  soul.  Its  accepted  mean- 
ing is  narrow,  but  in  those  ecstatic  moments  when 
things  spiritual  are  consciously  appreciated,  the  word 
soul  rises  to  a  fuller  importance.     The  word  limita- 


The  Spirit  of  Control.  210 

tion  approximates  true  significance,  when  we  realize 
what  personality  is.  Personality  is  an  infinitesimal 
projection  of  the  whole  individual.  The  whole  in- 
dividual is  in  the  psycho-spiritual  background.  The 
projected  personality  is  burdened  with  the  limita- 
tions of  natural  law.  It  is  bound  to  externalize  all 
things.  It  can  never  come  closer  to  outer  phenomena 
than  their  surface  appearance,  but  all  things  have  a 
subjective  as  well  as  an  objective  reality.  The  sub- 
jective reality  is  the  soul  of  the  objective.  Accus- 
tomed to  externalities,  we  accredit  them  with  their 
surface  meaning.  In  reality,  however,  it  is  the 
subtile  essence,  which  constitutes  the  soul  of  the 
phenomena,  be  they  mental  or  physical.  A  flower  is 
the  manifestation  of  a  subtile  essence  which  mani- 
fests in  the  form  of  flower.  Personality  is  but  a 
conditioned  manifestation  of  something  beyond  per- 
sonality. The  world  is  a  world  of  effects,  that  is,  the 
world  which  presents  itself  to  sense  perception,  but 
there  is  a  causal  even  as  there  is  a  physical  world. 
The  cause  is  first  in  existence  and  first  in  reality, 
but  the  inversion  of  the  mind,  its  disposition  to  view 
all  things  in  their  external  relation,  in  their  existence 
as  effects,  precludes  the  perception  of  inner  values, 
of  causal  realities,  of  subjective  phenomena.  The 
soul  and  the  true  essence  and  reality  of  all  things 
must  \e  perceived,  before  the  mind  can  liberate  itself 
from  the  thraldom  of  material  limitations  caused  by 
ignorance  of  supersensuous  truth.  If  personality  is 
but  an  effect,  it  is  the  duty  to  go  beyond  this  effect 
and  identify  Self  with  the  cause.    That  cause  is  the 


220  The  Spirit  of  Control. 

true  individual.  Its  realization  is  the  discovery  of 
the  nature  of  the  mind  and  is  the  consciousness  of  the 
true  and  immortal  individual.  It  is  difficult  to  perceive 
the  things  which  move  with  extraordinary  swiftness. 
This  world  of  effects  is  slow  in  motion  and  develop- 
ment. The  psychic  and  mental  sphere  of  causes  is 
spontaneous  in  expression,  rapid  in  growth,  and  thus 
relatively  changeless,  relatively  permanent.  A 
bucket  of  water  whirled  with  great  swiftness  and 
force  loses  none  of  its  contents.  Slowly  whirled,  it 
cannot  hold  the  water.  This  is  an  illustration  of  the 
activities  in  the  world  of  causes  and  in  the  world  of 
effects.  Propelled  with  less  force  and  less  motion, 
the  world  of  effects  has  comparatively  less  gravitative 
force,  less  adhesive  qualities,  and  thus  it  is  more 
especially  a  world  of  change,  of  decomposition,  of 
death,  of  impermanence.  The  causal  world  is  a  world 
of  mental  vibrations,  moving  with  great  celerity.  Its 
forms  are  of  finer  substance ;  its  vibrations,  of  purer 
and  more  extensive  character.  That  is  why  the  spir- 
itual element  of  man  is  immortal,  beyond  physical 
dominion,  though  not  altogether  beyond  physical  in- 
fluence. We  must  remember  that  the  world  of  phe- 
nomena is  only  the  manifestation  of  the  world  of 
noumena. 

Reason  will  support  us.  When  we  are  aware  that 
anything  is  reasonable  a  conscious  appreciation  devel- 
ops. When  a  thing  is  reasonable,  consciousness  soon 
adapts  itself.  In  other  words,  if  we  are  convinced 
that  anything  is  true,  we  will  relate  ourselves  to  it  in 
feeling.     Thus,   intelligence   and  consciousness  are 


The  Spirit  of  Control.  221 

indelible.  Ideas  have  motive  power  only  as  they  are 
associated  with  the  emotions.  All  physical  activities 
are  complementary  to  instinctive  intelligence;  for 
what  is  now  instinctive  was  previously  in  the  area  of 
judgment  and  reason.  This  instinctive  life  can  be 
restored  within  that  area.  There  are  persons  who 
have  gained  conscious  and  voluntary  control  over 
atavistic  traits.  Persisting  in  special  respiratory  and 
muscular  exercises,  they  control  the  action  of  the 
heart,  of  the  digestive  system,  and  so  on.  What  is 
rational  co-exists  with  what  is  true,  and  all  things 
which  are  true  have  a  conscious  relation  and  value. 
What  is  reasonable  is  approachable,  not  only  by  the 
understanding,  but  also  by  consciousness.  Accord- 
ingly, if  reason,  assisted  by  the  discoveries  and  empiri- 
cal observations  of  psychology,  arrives  at  the  assertion 
of  the  soul,  of  the  mind  within  the  mind,  of  powers 
and  potential  faculties,  consciousness  can  observe 
them.  Reason  is  one  of  the  variations  of  the  mani- 
festation of  consciousness  and,  in  this  sense,  has  al- 
ready related  itself  to  the  truth  of  immortality. 
Meditative  reflection  on  this  point  will  further  the 
mind  into  conviction  and  enable  consciousness  to  en- 
compass the  truth.  Science  is  founded  on  experi- 
mentation, that  is,  on  a  practical  and  consistent 
method  of  investigation.  The  discoveries  of  modern 
science  were  once  potential.  Truth  develops  with 
renewed  and  uncompromising  research.  Psychology 
and  spiritual  sciences  are  based  on  experimentation 
of  most  valuable  character,  for  they  are  based  on  indi- 
vidual perception.    Inference  and  belief  belong  to  the 


222  The  Spirit  of  Control. 

speculative  arrangement.  There  is  but  one  method, 
the  method  of  individual  research,  of  individual  com- 
pliance with  the  means  and  ways  of  psychological  re- 
search as  affecting  the  individual.  Practical  psychol- 
ogy is  invaluable.  It  renders  possible  the  observa- 
tion and  the  study  of  those  facts  on  which  psychology 
and  religion  are  founded.  The  most  practical  of  all 
psychological  experimentation  is  the  study  and  obser- 
vation of  ourselves.  Personal  experience  and  indi- 
vidual observation  lead  to  illumination.  What  we  are 
conscious  of  is  of  more  importance  than  the  learned 
findings  of  the  most  scrupulously  scientific.  Science 
is  but  the  observation  of  facts,  while  consciousness  is 
the  experiencer  of  facts  and  the  basis  of  truth  and 
reality. 

There  is  the  Light  within,  more  radiant  than  the 
sun.  There  is  the  Light,  more  glorious  than  the 
glory  of  the  moon  and  of  all  the  stars.  There  is  the 
Light  within,  and  that  Light  is  the  soul  of  all  Light, 
life,  color  and  beauty.  It  alone  is  the  true.  It 
alone  is  the  immortal.  There  is  the  Light  within, 
manifesting  in  the  perceptions  of  the  intellect  and 
in  the  perceptions  of  the  senses.  "The  sun  does  not 
shine  there,  nor  the  moon  and  the  stars,  nor  these 
lightnings  and  much  less  this  fire.  When  He  shines, 
everything  shines  after  Him.  By  His  light  all  this 
is  lighted."  So  sang  the  rishis  of  the  TJpanishads. 
Thus  did  the  Aryan  father  instruct  his  son.  He  in- 
structed him  that  the  Light  of  all  the  worlds  was  the 
Light  within,  and  that  that  Light  was  the  soul  of  his 
soul,  and  the  soul  of  all.    Being  this,  that  Light  was 


The  Spirit  of  Control.  223 

all-permeating  and  universal.  Being  this,  it  was  the 
essence  of  truth,  peace  and  bliss.  That  Light  is  the 
true  Light  which  guides  the  child  of  immortality  along 
the  way  of  knowledge  and  the  way  of  peace.  "He 
who  perceives  that  Light,  unto  him  is  eternal  peace, 
unto  none  else,  unto  none  else."  How  is  that  Light 
to  be  seen  ?  How  are  we  to  become  strong  in  spirit, 
rich  in  mind  under  Its  all-embracing  vision  ?  It  can 
alone  be  perceived  by  asserting  that  It  is.  It  can 
alone  be  discerned,  after  the  intellect  has  been  en- 
riched with  all  the  arguments  concerning  Its  exist- 
ence. Then  discrimination  comes,  the  wisdom  which 
discerns  the  things  which  are  real  and  the  things 
which  are  only  apparent.  Glorious  is  the  perception 
of  that  Light.  It  was  perceived  and  taught  in  Galilee 
by  the  Son  of  Man.  It  was  perceived  and  taught  in 
India  by  Gautama  Siddartha,  the  Buddha,  the  En- 
lightened One,  the  Prince  of  Peace.  It  was  per- 
ceived and  taught  in  China  by  Confucius,  the  Wise, 
and  by  Laotze,  he  who  showed  his  followers  Tao,  the 
Way.  It  was  perceived  and  taught  in  Persia,  the 
Land  of  the  Sun,  by  Zoroaster,  he  who  heard  the 
Voice  of  the  Silence.  Glorious  is  the  perception  of 
that  Light.  Its  radiance  parted  the  prophetic  lips 
of  the  sybils  of  the  Dodonian,  the  Delphic  and  the- 
Cumaean  oracles.  It  instructed  the  hierophants  of 
the  Elusinian  and  the  Mithraic  mysteries.  In  all 
ages  It  has  shone  by  the  right  of  inspiration.  That 
inspiration  comes  unbidden  to  the  man  of  spiritual 
pursuit.  It  is  a  part  and  parcel  of  his  nature.  He, 
in  truth,  has  made  great  progress  who  has  reached 


224  The  Spirit  of  Control. 

the  point  of  inspiration.  Inspiration  develops  when 
the  physical  elements  have  reached  a  special  evolu- 
tion and  are  composed  of  rarer  material  than  the 
average  body.  Just  as  there  is  a  decided  variation 
in  the  construction  and  susceptibility  of  nervous  sys- 
tems, so  there  is  also  a  rareness  and  a  fineness  in  the 
make-up  of  the  entire  body,  in  the  instances  of  highly 
cultivated  souls.  The  material  does  not  so  heavily 
impose  its  weight.  The  prophets  of  Judea  were  men 
of  this  description,  and  so  are  the  priests  and  the 
prophets  of  all  times.  The  state  of  inspiration  is  the 
state  when  the  mind  is  perfected,  when  the  rational 
element  assures  inspiration,  when  the  emotional  ele- 
ments are  harmonized  and  the  physical  and  desire 
vibrations  are  under  perfect  control.  The  man  of 
inspiration  is  a  man  of  highest  culture,  of  greatest 
character,  a  man  whose  desires  are  perfect  in  aspira- 
tion, a  man  whose  emotions  are  spiritualized,  whose 
work  is  performed  for  the  sake  of  the  work  and  the 
service  it  renders.  The  affections  of  such  a  man  are 
all-inclusive,  for  he  loves  because  it  is  his  nature  to 
love.  Perfect  self-sacrifice  and  self-renunciation  are 
qualities  of  the  man  of  inspiration.  Inspiration  is 
not  within  the  reach  of  a  questionable  character. 
That  is  why,  in  psychic  development,  moral  observ- 
ances are  insisted  on.  Just  as  water  cleanses  the 
body,  so  adherence  to  moral  precept  purifies  the 
mind.  Both  body  and  mind  must  be  purified  before 
the  personality  is  a  fit  vessel  for  the  reception  of 
truth.  Knowledge  is  of  purest  and  finest  substance ; 
ignorance,  of  densest  and  coarsest  substance.     The 


The  Spirit  of  Control.  225 

unprincipled  man  cannot  hope  to  become  a  son  of 
light  and  a  receiver  of  truth.  His  mind  and  body 
are  too  crass  and  dark.  The  man  lacking  self-control 
is  a  man  of  ignorance.  The  moral,  mental  and  spirit- 
ual have  ratio  of  meaning  and  stand  in  relation. 
One  cannot  be  highly  intellectual,  that  is,  a  perceiver 
of  truth,  without  being  consistent  in  moral  practice 
and  spiritual  belief.  The  purification  of  the  physi- 
cal elements  consists  largely  in  a  development  of  the 
nervous  system.  Physical  expression  depends  on  the 
activity  of  the  nervous  system.  All  our  sensitiveness 
to  the  phenomena  and  facts  of  life  hinges  on  its  con- 
dition and  susceptibility.  Therefore  it  is  essential 
to  cultivate  the  higher  emotions  and  feelings  since 
these  specialize  the  functions  of  the  nervous  system. 
There  is  community  of  emotion  and  feeling  in  the 
average ;  variation  and  distinction  of  emotion  and 
feelings  in  the  superior.  Beings  of  inferior  unfold- 
ment  have  community  of  expression.  With  the  indi- 
vidual there  is  an  individual  characterization  of  this 
expression.  Expression  depends  on  the  evolution  of 
the  nervous  system.  What  has  been  said  of  beings 
lower  in  the  scale  of  life  applies  to  the  average  in 
human  life.  The  only  difference  is  that  the  general 
ensemble  of  communal  emotion  and  feeling  is  raised 
to  a  higher  level. 

Thoughts  which  disturb  the  proper  functioning  of 
the  nervous  system,  desires  which  invert  its  activity, 
emotions  which  strain  its  possibilities,  work  which 
undermines  it,  must  be  done  away  with.  Thoughts 
of  educational  value,  thoughts  bearing  value  in  con- 


226  The  Spirit  of  Control. 

duct  and  helpful  to  the  emotions  must  be  cultivated. 
The  development  of  the  psychic  is  along  the  line  of 
the  nerves.  Particular  attention  must  be  paid  to 
those  phases  of  expression  which  evolve  or  hinder 
perfect  and  natural  development  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem. In  the  beginning  the  person  can  dispense  with 
the  more  intricate  methods  of  gaining  control.  Such 
methods  are  the  respiratory  control,  the  regulation  of 
the  breath,  and  the  control  of  the  vital  elements  which 
are  regulated  by  the  breath.  Control  of  the  breath 
harmonizes  the  vibrations  of  the  system,  so  that  it 
becomes  a  powerful  force,  one-pointed  and  one-cen- 
tered. An  eloquent  teacher  has  compared  the  power 
of  the  concentrated  forces  of  the  human  body  with 
the  control  of  the  vibrations  of  the  air  in  a  room. 
Control  the  vibrations  in  any  room,  centralize  them, 
cause  them  to  move  in  a  given  direction,  and  the 
room  becomes  a  storehouse  of  tremendous  electric 
energy.  The  focalization  of  personal  vibrations  is 
accomplished  through  the  determination  of  an  evolved 
will,  set  in  motion  by  the  concentrated  force  of  a 
single  idea,  a  single  purpose.  Normally,  the  mind 
is  swayed  by  every  impulse  and  tendency,  even  as 
vibrations  of  air  in  a  room  are  unequally  distributed. 
Concentration  is  the  method  by  which  the  mind  uni- 
fies its  vibrations  and  obtains  harmony  over  mental 
influences,  and  by  which  it  suppresses  disturbing 
strains  of  thought,  and  accentuates  helpful  and  up- 
lifting thoughts.  Concentration  is  the  end  and  be- 
ginning of  psychic  effort.  Every  evolution  and  spe- 
cialization in  the  development  of  progress  is  in  and 


The  Spirit  of  Control.  227 


of  desires  or  ideas.  Outside  of  the  mind  there  is  vi- 
bration only.  Within  the  mind  is  knowledge  and 
power.  Because  of  the  habit  of  externalizing  itself, 
the  mind  transposes  its  knowledge  upon  phenomena, 
regarding  them  as,  in  themselves,  separate  in  exist- 
ence. All  that  the  mind  knows  is  its  own  reaction. 
So  reading,  writing,  education,  all  else  is  simply  the 
mind  reacting  on  itself,  at  the  instigation  of  outer 
impulse.  The  realization  that  the  mind  is  the  prin- 
ciple of  knowledge  and  that  insentient  particles  of 
matter  can  never  be  self -illuminating,  is  the  first  truth 
in  the  science  of  psychic  control.  In  the  conviction 
of  this  truth  the  mind  becomes  self-established.  It 
looks  no  longer  for  education  from  without,  but  from 
within.  It  realizes  that  all  evolution  is  from  within. 
Instinctive  desire  for  greater  specialization  of  form 
and  activity  developed  the  evolutionary  process, 
changing  animal  life  from  primitive  to  higher  forms. 
The  desire  for  greater  expression  will  further  devel- 
opment from  the  human  upwards.  The  desire  must 
be  there.  All  power  and  progress  is  through  consis- 
tent and  elevated  desire,  and  consistent  desire  is 
furthered  by  higher  forms  of  mental  progression. 
The  mind  must  realize  that  the  body  is  only  its  ex- 
pression, that  it  is  sufficient  to  itself,  that,  if  it  has 
projected  the  body,  it  is  the  lord  of  those  powers 
which  compose  physical  life  and  form.  It  must 
realize  that  it  is  the  origin  of  form  and  physical  ex- 
pression, and  that  in  this  activity  it  is  unlimited  and 
unconditioned.     Why  should  it  limit  itself  to  this 


228  The  Spirit  of  Control. 

body ;  why  allow  the  body  to  hinder  the  expression  of 
mind  beyond  the  body  ?  Why  should  the  body  limit 
the  mind  to  manifestation  only  under  one  or  two 
conditions  of  space  or  form  ?  It  is  because  the  mind 
has  lost  the  faculty  of  introspection,  of  perceiving 
that  it  is  the  lord  of  physical  expression.  It  has  en- 
slaved itself  to  the  wants  and  cares  and  the  clamor- 
ous desires  of  physical  life.  It  has  so  completely 
identified  itself  with  physical  life,  that  it  knows  no 
other.  This  is  the  story  of  concentration.  Concen- 
trate the  mind  on  one  given  area  and  it  is  aware  of 
no  other.  The  body  should  be  regarded  in  its  rela- 
tive importance  as  the  vehicle  of  physical  expres- 
sion, not  as  the  prison  of  the  mind.  The  mind 
should  emphasize  its  freedom,  its  power  over  physi- 
cal form  and  force.  The  religio-sanative  cults  of  our 
day  are  worthy  if  for  no  other  reason  than  that  they 
liberate  the  mind,  free  it  from  the  thraldom  of  physi- 
cal expression  and  thus  allow  its  saving  force  to  mani- 
fest in  the  cure  of  mental  and  physical  disease. 

There  is  no  religion  higher  than  the  religion  of 
control,  the  religion  which  enters  with  heart  and  soul 
into  the  work  of  personal  reform  and  development. 
It  has  been  said  that  there  is  no  religion  higher  than 
truth.  Truth  in  its  practical  relation,  however,  is 
expressed  in  pure  and  unselfish  conduct.  The  mind 
is  the  storehouse  of  all  the  experiences  of  personality. 
The  Greater  Mind  absorbs  the  experiences  of  each 
personality  and  weaves  the  web  of  new  personality 
from    the    aggregate    of    past    personalities.     That 


The  Spirit  of  Control.  220 

Greater  Mind  is  the  mind  which  unfolds  itself  to  the 
supersensuous  vision. 

The  greater  effort  includes  the  lesser.  The  aspira- 
tion based  on  the  highest  value  includes  and  empha- 
sizes all  others.  In  aspiring  to  the  realization  of  the 
Highest  Self,  the  effort  at  psychic  control  is  relative, 
the  effort  at  superconscious  perception  is  relative,  the 
effort  at  recollection  of  past  lives  is  relative.  There 
is  always  the  possible  danger  that,  in  aspiring  to 
power  and  control,  we  are  likewise  aspiring  to  the 
realization  of  selfish  ends.  The  subconscious  rela- 
tions which  give  creative  force  to  aspirations  are  often 
tinctured  with  personal  desire.  That  is  why  religion, 
in  its  devotional  sense,  is  often  so  far  superior  to  psy- 
chic control.  In  devotion  there  is  the  highest  love. 
The  Supreme  is  personalized ;  the  Highest  Self  is  ac- 
credited with  all  the  lovable  and  spiritual  qualities 
which  cause  the  heart  to  become  attached.  This  at- 
tachment reaches  the  highest  climax  when  the  soul, 
so  conscious  of  love  and  of  the  Beloved,  merges 
into  the  superconscious  state  and  thus  attains,  through 
devotion  and  love,  what  the  adept  in  psychic  control 
attains  only  after  long  periods  of  ponderous  effort. 
Devotion  and  love  are  the  natural  and  the  easiest 
methods  of  realizing  the  true  nature  of  the  soul.  The 
psychic  knowledge  and  power  which  accrue  to  the 
psychic  aspirant  are  gained  only  when  every  atom 
of  personality  is  under  control.  He  has  to  become 
master  of  physical,  mental  and  psychic  forces.  Love 
finds  the  way  and  the  light.     Love  conquers  all  diffi- 


230  The  Spirit  of  Control. 

culties  and  changes  disadvantage  to  advantage.  Love 
smooths  the  path.  Where  the  psychic  adept  has  un- 
thinkable obstacles,  where  he  has  to  develop  out  of 
his  human  nature  into  the  nature  of  the  god,  the 
lover,  the  religious  devotee,  ever  remains  conscious 
of  his  limitations,  ever  remains  closely  united  with 
the  object  of  his  ideal,  knowing  full  well  that,  with- 
out the  presence  of  his  Beloved,  he  is  as  one  lost  in 
the  wilderness,  as  one  stranded  on  a  nameless  and  un- 
knowable shore.  When  the  soul  contemplates  the 
vast  and  boundless  wilderness  of  existence,  where  all 
is  confusion  and  darkness,  where  all  is  treachery  and 
deceit,  the  undertaking  to  sever  the  ties  which  control 
the  soul  seems  superhuman.  But  when  the  personal- 
ity, mindful  of  these  obstacles,  turns  its  attention  to 
that  Divine  Being  resident  within  the  soul,  help  will 
come  from  beyond  the  clouds  of  ignorance;  the  flood 
of  divine  light  will  scatter  the  darkness  that  veils 
the  perception  of  the  soul ;  the  divine  peace  and  the 
spirit  of  bliss  and  eternal  calm  will  touch  the  soul 
transporting  it  to  that  state  of  insight  and  bliss  which 
is  beyond  the  perception  of  the  understanding.  The 
thought  is  awe-inspiring  which  tells  of  the  indescrib- 
able desire,  aspiring  beyond  all  the  variations  of 
human  attainment,  yea,  beyond  god-like  knowledge 
and  power,  and  beyond  and  beyond  into  those  states 
unknown  even  to  the  highest  beings,  into  existence  of 
perfect  knowledge  and  bliss,  and  beyond  and  beyond 
into  that  unknowable  state  where  individuality  loses 
its  finite  aspect;  where  knowledge  and  bliss  merge 
into  one  unifying  state;  where  the  soul  sinks  into 


The  Spirit  of   Control.  231 

the  everlasting  calm  of  spiritual  immensity.  How 
limited  is  the  mind !  It  cannot  go  beyond  sense  com- 
prehension. "When  we  think  of  the  infinite,  we  think 
of  it  as  in  relation  to  time  or  space.  The  ideas  of 
omnipresence  have  their  root  in  our  conception  of 
space ;  the  ideas  of  eternity  in  our  conception  of  time, 
and  so  on.  But  the  first  step  in  psychic  control  is 
getting  beyond  these  limited  comprehensions.  Our 
ideas  of  space  and  time  change  perceptibly,  the  first 
moment  we  see  beyond  the  limitations  of  sensuous 
perception.  The  higher  mind  cognizes  indefinite  de- 
grees of  space  and  time,  of  power  and  knowledge,  of 
bliss  and  peace.  The  higher  mind  knows  of  control, 
understands  all  the  conditions  whereby  the  physical 
may  become  properly  related  and  serve  the  interests 
of  the  Highest  Self.  The  higher  mind  is  the  perfect 
mind,  and,  in  its  depths,  is  the  essence  of  all  knowl- 
edge. Clairvoyance  and  clairaudience,  telaesthesia, 
telepathy  and  other  powers  of  which  psychology 
speaks  are  nothing  in  comparison  with  that  vision  and 
feeling  which  associate  with  the  highly  philosophical 
and  spiritual  temperament.  Psychic  powers  are  no 
more  explanatory  of  the  problem  of  existence  than  the 
normal  sense  and  mental  faculties.  Clairvoyance  is 
only  the  faculty  of  normal  sight  extended  beyond  its 
average  area  of  perception.  Similarly  with  hearing. 
People  of  nervous  susceptibilities,  of  delicate  nerve 
balance  often  possess  these  powers,  though  they 
have  not  the  slightest  appreciation  of  religious  or 
philosophical  truth.  The  fact  that  I  can  see,  hear  or 
feel  better  or  beyond  the  normal  area  of  the  average 


232  The  Spirit  of  Control. 

person  docs  not  insure  moral  or  spiritual  perfection. 
It  does  not  enhance  spiritual  aspiration,  or  conduce 
to  spiritual  knowledge.  Thousands  of  persons  have 
stumbled  on  to  supersensuous  perception  and  at  the 
same  time  they  have  used  this  evolution  in  the  pur- 
suit of  selfish  interests.  Each  person  is  of  relative 
inferiority  or  superiority  of  sense  perception  to  his 
neighbor,  though  the  basis  of  perception  be  the  nor- 
mal sense  faculties.  Immediately  beyond  this  normal 
border  lies  the  field  of  perception  evolving  with  the 
developed  activity  of  the  nervous  system.  So  the  folly 
of  associating  religious  truth  with  psychic  faculties  is 
readily  seen.  Spiritual  vision  is  highly  distinct  from 
psychic  vision.  The  vision  of  the  Master  is  incom- 
parably different  from  the  vision  of  departed  souls. 
The  spiritual  giant  has  nothing  to  do  with  spiritual- 
istic complexities.  Why  should  a  communication 
with  the  departed  be  of  any  greater  religious  surety 
than  communication  with  incarnate  beings  ?  Those 
who  have  passed  beyond  are  not  more  evolved  for 
the  experience  of  death.  There  are  souls  on  the 
earth  plane  far  beyond  the  spiritual  attainment  of 
the  average  departed  soul.  Spiritualistic  communica- 
tion is  only  an  incident  in  the  mighty  development  of 
the  spiritual  genius.  People  are  beguiled  by  their 
own  folly.  They  will  pay  their  last  farthing  for  a 
message  from  the  departed  and  will  not  contribute 
one  cent  to  the  support  of  the  proclaimer  of  re- 
ligious truth  or  the  evangelist  of  the  moral  gospels. 
If  the  Christ  should  appear  on  earth  this  day 
he   would,    as    of    old,    have    no   place    to    lay    his 


The  Spirit  of  Control.  233 

head.  He  would  be  told  that  it  was  impractical  to 
follow  the  highest  truth,  that  one  cannot  practice  the 
requirements  of  morality  and,  at  the  same  time, 
amass  wealth  or  attain  to  great  social  or  political  im- 
portance. While  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  Man,  the 
Messenger  of  Peace,  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the 
Life  starved  on  the  by-ways  of  existence,  a  vaude- 
ville hypnotic  performer,  a  quasi-spiritualistic  me- 
dium would  be  well-housed,  well-fed  and  well-paid. 
Such  is  the  way  of  error,  such  the  benightedness  of 
the  fool,  such  the  treatment  accorded  to  the  Great 
Ones,  whose  hearts  are  oceans  of  mercy  and  compas- 
sion. "If  I  were  God,  how  I  would  pity  men."  This 
cry,  wrung  from  the  lips  of  the  old  king  in  the  trag- 
edy of  "Pelleas  and  Melisande,"  has  particular  adap- 
tation in  this  comparison.  The  dying  Christ  utters 
the  agonizing  cry:  "Father,  forgive  them,  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do." 

Persons  of  limited  understanding  enrich  the  char- 
latan. Yet  it  is  their  karma.  The  law  of  compensa- 
tion makes  them  the  victims  of  their  own  folly.  Their 
past  deeds  and  follies  visit  them  in  this  form.  These 
persons  are  as  selfish  in  their  respect  as  the  charlatan 
is  in  his  manner.  They  come  to  satisfy  a  curiosity, 
a  personal  and  selfish  desire.  They  come  to  experi- 
ence a  new  sensation,  and  justify  themselves  in  assert- 
ing their  belief  in  spiritualism.  There  is  no  science  in 
the  matter.  "Persons  believe  what  they  desire  to  be 
the  truth."  This  is  applicable  to  many  spiritualistic 
revelations.  Too  much  emphasis  cannot  be  laid  upon 
the  criticism  of  charlatan  practice.    These  deplorable 


234  The  Spirit  of  Control. 

methods  of  gaining  money  have  resulted  in  an  almost 
general  disbelief  in  the  valuable  truth  which  spiritu- 
alism contains.  It  has  led  to  the  condemnation  of 
such  helpful  sciences  as  palmistry  and  astrology.  It 
has  led  to  the  wholesale  criticism  of  other  psychic 
practices,  justifiable  and  scientific  in  their  proper 
sphere,  but  ridiculous  and  pernicious  when  associ- 
ated with  ignorance  and  selfishness.  The  powers  and 
faculties  of  mind  have  an  exalted  meaning  and  ser- 
vice when  rightly  related  to  truth  and  fact.  Psychic 
evolution  is  a  matter  of  individual  growth,  of  indi- 
vidual comprehension  of  the  law,  of  individual 
recognition  of  truth,  of  individual  discernment  of 
light  and  life,  of  individual  discrimination  between 
the  real  and  the  unreal.  No  development  can  be  had 
by  adherence  to  creed.  Psychic  development  is  asso- 
ciated with  the  development  of  the  perceptions  of 
consciousness,  with  the  widening  of  its  moral  activity, 
with  the  increase  of  its  aspiration,  and  with  the 
ennoblement  of  its  desires  and  emotions.  No  one  can 
teach  truth.  The  teacher  can  only  give  the  key  to 
the  initiate.  The  latter  must  unlock  and  open  the 
door  which  leads  to  the  heaven  of  religious  attain- 
ment. As  each  man  is  the  architect  of  his  own  fate, 
the  doer  of  his  own  deeds,  so  each  man  is  his  own 
pilot  on  the  sea  of  existence,  his  own  teacher,  his 
own  enlightener.  No  help  can  come  from  outside.  In 
admonishing  his  disciples,  the  Buddha  said:  "You 
yourselves  must  make  an  effort.  The  Tathagatas  are 
only  great  preachers."  It  is  difficult  to  present  sa- 
lient metaphors  to  assist  the  mind  in  the  comprehen- 


The  Spirit  of  Control.  235 

sion  of  truths  beyond  reason  and  beyond  normal  con- 
sciousness. Myths  and  folk-lore  had  origin  in  the 
efforts  of  great  teachers  to  convey  to  the  human  mind 
the  appreciation  of  supersensuous  truth.  Therefore, 
all  myths  and  racial  legends  are  to  be  respected,  for 
th  heart  of  these  is  truth.  The  effort  of  the  human 
mind  to  go  beyond  itself,  to  reach  the  plane  of  direct 
knowledge  and  power  is  purely  psychic.  It  has  spir- 
itual value,  only  as  spiritual  meaning  is  attached  to 
it. 

The  many  phases  of  psychic  power  are  in  them- 
selves of  slight  value  in  spiritual  progression.  They 
are  incidental,  and  their  service  is  excellent  in  the 
adjustment  of  physical  and  mental  inharmonies. 
They  are  within  the  reach  of  each  and  every  person. 
There  are  many  conditions  under  which  psychic 
power  is  displayed.  There  are  even  diseases  of  the 
nerves  which  serve  as  the  medium  of  hyperaesthesia 
or  the  vivification  of  the  normal  senses  beyond  their 
normal  range,  so  that  the  person,  for  the  time  being, 
becomes  psychic.  This  manifestation,  however,  is 
a  form  of  inversion.  The  psychic  adept  possesses 
best  physical  vitality.  It  is  not  by  inversion  that  we 
come  to  the  normal  possession  of  psychic  knowledge 
and  power.  Before  any  of  the  higher  faculties  de- 
velop, all  those  in  present  possession  must  properly 
harmonize.  The  greatest  accomplishment  of  spiritual 
control  is  the  liberation  of  the  Self  from  the  igno- 
rance which  breeds  identity  with  inverted  emotions. 
These  emotions  are  hatred,  fear,  anger,  covetousness, 
lust,  misery,  pain,  sorrow  and  so  forth.    They  repre- 


236  The  Spirit  of  Control. 

sent  not  only  the  philosophical  misapprehension  of 
practical  truth ;  they  not  only  disturb  the  harmony  of 
the  mind,  but  cause  physical  harm  and  frequently 
death.  When  we  realize  the  long  list  of  diseases  which 
have  purely  a  mental  origin,  when  we  consider  the 
many  nervous  diseases  having  their  cause  in  inverted 
mental  and  desire  vibrations,  we  will  understand  the 
moral  character  of  therapeutical  and  faith-healing 
cults.  In  suggestive  therapeutics,  irrespective  of  the 
name  or  the  form  under  which  it  appears,  we  find 
the  appeal  for  a  return  to  a  proper  emotional  basis. 
The  practitioners  of  religio-sanitary  societies  take  it 
for  granted  that  the  root  element  in  all  disease  is 
mental.  They  say  that  nervous  diseases  are,  directly 
or  indirectly,  traceable  to  the  influence  of  an  inverted 
psychic  order.  Their  methods  call  for  a  cheerful, 
wholesome  attitude  of  mind.  The  work  of  the  nat- 
ural curative  forces  as  assisted.  Fear,  hypochondria 
and  other  mental  phases  retard  the  curative  work  of 
nature.  Many  of  the  so-called  cures  of  our  meta- 
physicians and  healers  are  in  the  relief  of  the  mind 
of  the  patient  from  morbid  worry  and  unfounded 
phobias.  As  for  the  claim  that  all  diseases  are  mental 
in  origin,  that  complex  functional  or  organic  diseases 
have  a  mental  causation  irrespective  of  their  apparent 
physical  causes,  it  can  only  be  said  that  as  yet  no  scien- 
tific emphasis  can  be  accredited  to  the  statement.  It  is 
certain  that  in  different  phases  of  hysteria,  phantom 
tumors,  aphasia,  loss  of  memory,  loss  of  personal 
identity,  forms  of  muscular  paralysis  and  other  con- 
ditions, seemingly  physical  in  causation,  are  removed 


The  Spirit  of  Control.  237 

under  the  influence  of  hypnosis.  Thus,  if  muscular, 
circulatory  or  digestive  disorders  may  arise  through 
disordered  mental  processes,  it  may  be  that  even 
complex  structural  or  functional  troubles  may  ulti- 
mately have  a  simple  mental  origin.  At  all  events, 
such  argument  will  explain  the  decided  cures  of 
Christian  Science,  of  the  Emanuel  Movement,  of  the 
pilgrimage  cures  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and 
the  cures  which  it  claims  through  the  veneration  of 
relics.  Biblical  instances  are  many  which  tell  of 
cures  by  faith,  by  prayer,  by  the  imposition  of  hands 
and  by  many  other  similar  means.  From  immemor- 
ial times,  and  in  the  religious  symbolism  and  liturgy 
of  even  semi-civilized  nations,  we  find  the  cure  of 
disease  by  methods  other  than  medical,  by  methods 
solely  mental.  Physiologists  have  shown  the  effects 
of  mental  suggestion  on  the  body.  This  suggestion 
may  be  good  or  evil.  Our  mental  life  is  largely  of  the 
suggestive  order.  Our  desires  are  suggestions  to  our 
conduct.  Our  ideas  are  suggestions  to  our  desires,  and 
so  on  until  we  come  to  the  very  psychic  background  of 
suggestion.  Suggestion  is  at  the  root  of  our  existence 
From  being  and  acting  in  a  personal  sense,  it  is  uni- 
versalized so  that  it  includes  the  animal  and  vegetal 
lives.  The  evolution  of  form  and  character  is  inci- 
dent to  the  desire  for  greater  specialization  of  mind 
and  body,  and  that  desire  is  formed  through  that 
background  of  universal  psychic  suggestion  which 
instils  the  desire  to  be  and  the  desire  to  increase  in 
a  sense  collective  as  well  as  individual.  The  natural 
course  of  this  instinctive  suggestion  is  not  fully  ex- 


238  The  Spirit  of  Control. 

pressed  in  the  human  species,  for  with  the  develop- 
ment of  humanity  is  also  the  evolution  of  reason  and 
the  resultant  faculty  of  choice  in  desire;  in  other 
words,  with  the  development  of  humanity  came  the 
development  of  the  free  will.  Yet  in  the  incipient 
stages  of  the  perfection  of  this  freedom  of  will,  we 
often  find  its  course  subverted.  Reason  is  confused 
with  instinctive  desire  and  in  this  confusion  is  born 
the  hydra-headed  monster  of  perverted  desire  and 
perverted  conduct,  not  alone  that,  but  perverted  in- 
stinct. In  this  confusion  we  have  the  discrimination 
between  progressive  and  retrogressive  instincts. 

Psychic  control  is  the  control  of  desire,  the  trans- 
valuation  and  accordant  transformation  of  ideas  and 
desires;  it  is  the  amelioration  of  conduct,  and  the  re- 
finement of  physical  and  mental  vibration.  The  per- 
version of  reason,  the  confusion  of  the  instinctive  and 
rational  elements  are  detrimental,  frequently  causing 
the  death  of  the  body.  Exaggerated  ideas  and  desires 
have  their  effect  on  the  system.  All  exaggerated  ideas 
are  normal  ideas  excessively  pronounced.  ^Normal 
ideas  compose  the  psychic  elements  of  normal  sensuous 
desire.  Pronounced  beyond  their  original  significance, 
these  ideas  have  detrimental  effects  on  those  parts 
through  which  they  are  expressed.  The  conduits  of 
expression  of  almost  all  the  passions  are  the  nervous 
and  circulatory  systems.  The  latter,  when  forced  to 
function  beyond  its  normal  area,  becomes  congested 
and  may  result  in  instantaneous  death.  History  tells 
of  the  death  of  the  Roman  Emperor  Valentinian 
through  anger  at  the  indigent  appearance  of  the  am- 


The  Spirit  of  Control.  239 

bassadors  of  the  Quadi.  Fear  has  its  influence  on 
the  body,  frequently  leading  to  insanity  and  to  death. 
All  ideas  of  pronounced  character  have  telling  effect 
on  the  physical.  Over-emphasized  ambitions,  ex- 
treme desires,  abnormally  concentrated  thoughts,  de- 
formed habits,  have  respective  and  varied  influence. 
The  reason  for  such  manifestation  is  the  overwhelm- 
ing power  of  thought.  Thoughts  are  like  great  physi- 
cal powers.  When  harnessed  and  brought  within  the 
guidance  of  the  human  will  they  prove  of  invaluable 
service,  while  in  their  native  condition  they  are  de- 
structive to  progress  and  hinder  the  advance  of  civ- 
ilization. To  be  of  effectual  service  in  the  transfor- 
mation of  the  human  into  the  superhuman  character, 
to  be  of  effectual  service  in  the  realization  of  true 
individuality,  thought  must  be  concentrated,  focal- 
ized, harmonized,  brought  under  perfect  control 
and  harnessed  so  as  to  develop  greater  strength  and 
turn  into  the  direction  of  personal  advancement 
Thought  must  be  of  the  purer  character.  Concen- 
trated thought  of  improper  moral  color  is  a  thou- 
sandfold worse  to  the  mind  than  its  natural  dissipated 
state.  This  is  the  value  of  the  elimination  of  im- 
moral ideas  and  perverted  desires.  Habit  is  but 
another  name  for  instinct.  Therefore,  to  control  the 
instinctive,  and  the  impulse  life,  we  must  exercise 
firm  command  over  conscious  life,  regulating  sen- 
suous desires  to  the  best  of  our  knowledge.  Ideas 
must  be  developed  so  as  to  mould  the  expression  of 
desires.  We  may  not  know  how  to  dive  beneath  this 
conscious  expression  and  discover  the  menta-psychical 


240  The  Spirit  of  Control. 

causes  of  ideas  and  desires,  but  over  the  present  mo- 
ment we  have  full  control,  and  present  moments  de- 
cide later  habits.  Each  thought  is  a  link  in  that  chain 
which  binds  individuality  within  the  wheel  of  rebirth  ; 
so  is  each  expression  of  conduct,  each  desire,  word, 
each  deed  of  commission  and  each  deed  of  omission. 
The  thought  causes  the  intellect  to  stagger  in  the  con- 
templation. But  true  it  is,  and  in  this  truth  is  found 
the  reason  of  freedom  of  will,  of  moral  responsibil- 
ity, of  spiritual  effort,  of  the  realization  of  that  which 
is  best  in  our  nature.  The  control  of  thought  has  a 
meaning  apart  from  the  moral.  It  has  an  intellectual 
significance  in  the  accentuation  of  talents  and  the 
development  of  genius.  Perfect  application  to  given 
pursuits  is  perfect  concentration  along  the  lines  they 
represent.  In  the  light  of  future  lives  and  the  end- 
lessness of  time  within  which  to  perfect  our  tastes  and 
talents,  there  is  no  barrier  which  cannot  be  overcome, 
no  obstacle  which  cannot  be  turned  into  a  point  of 
advantage.  Everything,  all  nature,  all  evolutionary 
tendencies,  assist  the  aspiring  soul,  anxious  to  realize 
the  highest  interests  and  give  meaning  and  glory  to 
personality.  In  the  light  of  the  sublime  truth  con- 
concerning  the  human  soul,  the  pursuit  of  sensuous 
desires  is  deplorable.  Grounded  in  debased  igno- 
rance, many  pass  through  this  life  having  accom- 
plished but  little  in  the  perfection  of  their  personal- 
ity. Eor  such  as  these  the  law  has  no  mercy.  It  is 
evil  enough  to  have  buried  one's  talents  in  the  ground, 
but  to  have  broken  them  and  scattered  them  to  the 
winds  is  fearful.    We  are  born  for  work  and  for  the 


The  Spirit  of  Contrdl.  241 

noblest  expression  of  which  we  are  capable.  In  that 
expression  lies  the  highest  knowledge,  the  highest 
power  and  the  highest  peace.  To  the  philosopher 
and  to  the  adept  of  spiritual  wisdom,  this  world  is 
the  field  of  moral  endeavor,  the  state  in  which  real- 
ization must  be  a  fact  and  not  a  theory,  where  psychic 
evolution  co-exists  with  moral  evolution.  The  man 
who  is  wasteful  or  unmindful  of  opportunities  is  a 
loss  to  himself.  Morality  is  the  refinement  of 
thought,  for  all  morality  is  the  result  of  the  desire 
to  perfect  and  ennoble  the  best  within.  Civilization 
has  reached  the  perfection  of  knowledge  and  power 
through  following  the  highest  impulse.  Coarse,  dull, 
heavy  are  the  elemental  instincts  which  give  tone, 
color  and  expression  to  elemental  life.  Refined,  com- 
posed of  rare  vibrations  and  powers  of  thought,  are 
the  aesthetic,  the  artistic,  the  inventive,  the  progres- 
sive ideas  and  desires.  What  can  withstand  the  on- 
ward march  of  evolution,  of  the  innumerable  desires 
of  innumerable  lives  to  perfect  and  widen  the  area  of 
natural  expression.  Psychic  power,  life  and  thought 
is  only  a  continuation  of  natural  manifestation.  On 
their  respective  planes,  and  to  those  of  spiritual  com- 
prehension, the  workings  of  psychic  forces  are  no 
more  mysterious  than  the  workings  of  natural  forces, 
for  by  nature  is  included  all  variations  of  life  and 
motion,  be  they  of  the  primitive  or  of  the  highest 
spiritual  order.  The  powers  and  faculties  of  mind 
are  the  powers  and  possibilities  of  the  spiritual  life 
within  which  each  must  realize  before  humanity  is 
perfected  in  individual  progress. 


242  The  Spirit  of  Control. 

It  is  not  the  propaganda  of  dogma,  but  of  moral 
impulses  and  values  which  is  true  evangelic  work. 
The  teaching  of  the  Christ  and  of  the  Buddha  had  no 
dogmatic  intentions.  Theirs  was  the  mission  of  giv- 
ing evolution  a  new  bound,  and  that  mission  ex- 
pressed itself  in  the  propaganda  of  ethical  teaching. 
Such  propaganda  has  nothing  to  do  with  sectarian- 
ism. It  is  the  religion  of  advancement  along  moral 
lines.  The  development  of  mind  has  been  brought 
about  by  the  concentration  on  highest  values.  What- 
ever development  is  yet  to  come,  the  development  of 
spiritual  knowledge  and  control,  can  be  realized  only 
through  this  avenue.  Adherence  to  moral  require- 
ments is  the  adhernce  to  those  things  which  make  for 
conscious  control  of  the  whole  person.  It  is  in  this 
manner  that  the  powers  and  faculties  of  the  mind  are 
realized. 


THE  BIRTHRIGHT  OF  THE  SOUL. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE    BIRTHRIGHT    OF    THE    SOUL. 

Out  of  the  darkness  came  the  light.  In  the  highest 
sense  the  darkness  is  not  different  from  the  light,  for 
darkness  is  light  unmanifested.  In  all  poetry  and 
imagery  of  the  mind  symbols  are  found  apparently 
contradictory  in  value  and  description,  yet  by  some 
indiscernible  bond,  they  are  identical  in  nature  and 
essence,  separate  only  in  form,  activity  and  mani- 
festation. The  goal  of  all  varied  activities  is  one. 
Light  is  the  life,  form  and  manifesting  condition  of 
all  forms  and  forces.  It  is  the  symbol  of  deepest 
wisdom,  all-embracing  existence  and  bliss  supreme. 
Darkness  symbolizes  that  universal  illusion  which 
inhibits  the  vision  of  the  soul.  The  cause  of  dark- 
ness is  an  unknowable  cause,  but  it  has  its  uses. 
Through  darkness  light  is  contrasted  and  its  qualities 
exalted.  Its  transcendent  glory  is  brought  home  to 
the  experience  of  consciousness.  The  symbols  and 
the  nature  of  the  ideal  have  physical  correspondences. 
Light  is  the  life  of  the  earth.  By  light  bodily  nutri- 
tion is  developed.  Physical  light  is  the  exterioriza- 
tion of  mental  light  which  purges  the  mind  of  the 
impurities  of  ignorance.  Physical  light  is  but  the 
faint  reflection  of  that  mental  light  which  renders 
possible  the  expression  of  truth,  the  harmonization  of 


240  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

discordant  principles,  and  the  accentuation  of  higher 
values  and  deeper  realities.  The  light  of  the  mind, 
in  turn,  is  a  dim  refraction  of  that  spiritual  light 
which  is  the  background  of  the  life  of  the  mind  and 
the  life  of  the  body.  That  spiritual  light  is  the 
essence  of  light,  the  encompassing  activity  of  light 
which  enters  in  and  through  all  forms  and  forces  of 
mind  and  body.  It  is  that  light  which  is  the  soul 
of  all  minor  reflections.  Through  all  the  crevices  of 
substance,  through  all  the  obstacles  of  material  dark- 
ness and  density,  through  all  the  clouded  perturba- 
tions of  material  counter-influences,  that  spiritual 
light  is  at  work  flooding  the  darkness.  But  beyond, 
above,  beneath,  on  all  sides,  glorious,  unending,  un- 
thinkable, before  either  darkness  or  light,  and  ever- 
lasting is  that  radiant  spiritual  essence,  in  itself,  the 
fundamental  principle  of  light.  It  is  not  light,  but 
that  which  manifests  as  light.  Darkness  is  but  an- 
other form  of  its  appearance.  Darkness  exists  only 
through  limitations  of  the  perceptive  area  of  sense 
vision.  Where  we  fail  to  see,  light  is  still  extant,  per- 
ceptible to  creatures  of  different  planes  of  life.  Is 
the  sight  of  the  eagle  less  than  the  sight  of  man  be- 
cause the  eagle  perceives  light  where  man  is  blinded  ? 
The  light  of  the  sun  is  so  dazzling  that  we  speak  of  it 
as  blinding.  Where  there  is  blindness  of  vision  there 
is  darkness,  but  it  is  darkness  only  to  those  whose 
vision  is  circumscribed.  The  light  of  day  is  our  me- 
dium of  natural  sight,  but  the  light  of  day  is  darkness 
to  the  owl. 

Light  is  everywhere,  and  the  omnipresence  of  phy- 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  217 

sical  light  is  representative  of  the  omnipresence  of 
mental  and  spiritual  light.  As  the  light  of  nature  is 
the  life  of  the  body,  as  the  light  of  universal  intelli- 
gence is  the  life  of  the  mind,  so  beyond  the  mind  that 
spiritual  light  exists  which  is  the  life  of  the  soul. 
Beyond  that  spiritual  light  is  the  life  of  the  universe, 
that  boundless,  shoreless,  unknowable  spirit  of  life 
and  light  which  pervades  all  form,  all  force,  all  mani- 
festation, all  relative  expression,  all  differences,  all 
contradictions,  unifying  their  nature  into  that  absorb- 
ing World-Soul  which  is  the  essence  of  knowledge, 
the  essence  of  existence,  the  essence  of  bliss.  As  the 
innumerable  differences  of  form  and  force  are  ab- 
sorbed by  one  all-pervading  substance  of  which  all 
forms  are  manifestations,  and  by  one  all-pervading 
force  of  which  all  forces  are  manifestations ;  as  uni- 
versal substance  and  force  are  synthesized  in  an  in- 
scrutable unity  and  source  of  manifestation,  forming 
the  cosmic  equilibrium,  so  all  conditions  of  mind  and 
form  are  variations  of  light  and  darkness.  It  is  the 
dual  expression  of  that  "One  without  a  second." 

That  One  without  a  second  is  the  center  of  the 
universe  and  the  center  of  each  individual  soul.  As 
the  circumference  of  a  circle  bears  vital  relations  to 
the  center,  so  all  lives  are  circumferences  of  the  end- 
less spiritual  circle  of  which  Self  is  the  center.  The 
One  concentrated  upon  His  nature,  and  the  knower, 
the  known  and  the  knowable  were  born.  The  known 
assumed  separate  existence.  Vivified  by  the  light  of 
the  One,  the  known  also  reflected  Manifoldness,  the 
principle  of  nature  was  born.     The  knowable  is  the 


2  18  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

One  concentrating  through  all,  in  search  of  truth 
beyond  immediate  discernment.  In  the  segregation 
of  the  known  from  the  knower,  the  knower  took  on 
separate  existence  and,  asserting  individuality,  was 
immersed  in  self-assertion  and  ignorance.  The  souls 
of  the  manifold  have  their  origin  in  the  infinite 
nature  of  the  One  and,  therefore,  the  conditions  under 
which  they  manifest,  and  the  field  of  the  knowable,  of 
which  they  are  in  pursuit,  is  also  infinite.  True,  the 
"Why"  of  existence  is  beyond  reason.  But  he  who 
questions  the  "Why"  of  manifoldness,  when  the 
nature  of  the  universe  is  One,  should  keep  himself 
within  the  range  of  the  knowable.  Through  the  ex- 
pansion of  the  known,  he  may  attain  to  that  which  is 
beyond  the  known.  Through  search  after  immediate 
values  comes  the  development  of  the  means  for  further 
investigation.  Further  and  further  progress  is  made. 
Greater  and  greater  lucidity  is  accorded  known  truth 
and,  through  the  pronunciation  of  known  truths, 
the  soul  gets  a  glimpse  of  supersensuous  truths, 
standing  in  immediate  relation  to  known  facts.  It 
would  be  the  height  of  stupidity  for  a  man,  unfamil- 
iar with  the  principles  of  aerial  navigation,  who  has 
never  heard  of  such  an  invention,  to  question  why  he 
cannot  fly  even  as  he  can  walk.  That  "Why"  is  be- 
yond his  immediate  solving,  but  within  his  immediate 
reach  is  the  observation  of  those  facts  and  the  study 
of  those  principles  upon  which  the  science  of  aerial 
navigation  rests.  The  man  who  questions  concerning 
the  nature  of  existence  should  first  attend  to  truths 
which  bear  immediate  relation  to  his  present  respon- 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  249 

sibilities,  to  those  duties  which  the  Law  imposed  upon 
his  soul  at  birth.  In  pursuit  of  possible  knowledge, 
knowledge  beyond  immediate  solution  unfolds  itself. 
The  racial  soul  has  progressed  so  rapidly  by  reason  of 
its  attention  to  facts  which  lay  before  it,  by  reason 
of  effort  in  discerning  those  near  truths  which  have 
practical  relation.  So  it  is  with  the  man  who  pro- 
gresses beyond  his  age.  His  concentration  does  not 
operate  beyond  the  field  of  his  possibilities.  It  acts 
on  the  plane  of  given  talents,  given  factors  for  the 
pursuit  of  attainable  knowledge.  Let  the  "far  off 
divine  event  towards  which  creation  moves"  adapt 
itself  to  its  own  relations.  The  divine  event  in  per- 
sonal life  is  the  perfection  of  character  and  the  real- 
ization of  Self. 

The  birthright  of  the  soul  is  the  spirit  of  perfec- 
tion. The  struggle  of  personality  is  towards  that  per- 
fection. All  the  sorrows  and  all  the  joys  of  life,  all 
the  equalities  and  inequalities  of  life,  all  the  varia- 
tions in  the  rise  or  the  retrogression  of  individual 
effort  have  value  in  the  sum-total  of  efforts  leading  to 
perfection.  Men  are  born  with  different  tendencies 
and  different  possibilities.  Some  come  into  this  world 
almost  instinctively  masters  of  the  things  that  they 
later  accomplish.  They  seem  born  to  occasions 
and  with  all  the  constituents  of  greatness.  They  are 
born  with  talent.  Their  success  grows  with  their  nat- 
ural expansion.  These  are  the  men  who  are  the  mas- 
ters of  their  career,  the  men  whom  no  obstacle  can 
daunt,  whose  success  no  opposition  can  undermine. 
They  are  the  teachers,  the  artists,  the  perfectors  in 


250  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

their  calling.  They  shape  their  destinies  and  domi- 
nate the  vocations  in  which  they  find  themselves. 
These  persons  are  born  with  mental  powers. 

The  birthright  of  all  men  is  the  aggregate  of  the 
foremost  psychic  constituents  of  their  nature.  The 
birthright  of  the  soul  is  a  birthright  dependent  upon 
no  external  accident.  It  is  within  the  personality,  as 
the  personality  is,  within  iself,  distinct  from  anything 
extraneous.  Every  soul  is  expressed  in  the  manifes- 
tation of  potential  inherents  and  in  the  exterioriza- 
tion of  inner  personal  faculties.  Every  soul  is  the 
exponent  of  its  own  mystery,  the  mystery  of  its 
beauty  of  expression,  the  mystery  of  mental  causes 
producing  their  effect  along  individual  lines.  That 
is  the  birthright  of  the  soul  in  the  realm  of  things 
finite  where  perfection  in  any  given  circle  is  ever 
relative.  Within  the  dominion  of  finite  existence 
varied  perfections  exist,  but  they  only  serve  to  develop 
further  unfoldment,  further  specialization  of  spir- 
itual functions  and  faculties.  The  aim  of  evolution 
is  almost  metaphysical,  so  indiscernible  is  it,  so 
utterly  beyond  the  highest  flight  of  the  imagination. 
In  the  achievement  of  that  aim,  however,  are  many 
subordinate  achievements  which  have  an  invaluable 
position  in  the  total  scheme.  The  aim  of  evolution 
is  only  an  imitation  of  the  end  of  man.  Unthinkable, 
in  a  relative  sense  unknowable,  is  the  end  of  man,  the 
end  of  the  individual  soul.  But  the  distance  it  has 
already  travelled  is  also  unthinkable.  The  past  is 
as  marvellous  as  the  future.  The  goal  of  human 
evolution    is    the    perfection    of    subordinate    sense 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  251 

faculties,  the  development  of  the  higher  mental 
qualities,  the  transformation  of  mental  into  psychic 
faculties,  the  growth  out  of  the  psychic  into  the  spir- 
itual nature.  Beyond  that  is  the  realization  of  the 
principle  which  gave  meaning  to  evolution,  meaning 
to  effort;  the  realization  of  that  all-potent  principle 
that  caused  the  rise  of  the  soul  out  of  material  dark- 
ness into  the  light  of  the  mind  and  into  the  light  of 
the  soul.  The  supreme  birthright  of  the  soul  is  su- 
preme perfection.  Within  the  abyss  of  the  soul  that 
supreme  perfection  exists  in  potentiality.  Personal 
perfection  is  but  a  finite  reflection  of  supreme  perfec- 
tion. Belative  perfection  increases  and  increases; 
more  and  more  of  that  supreme  perfection  is  realized ; 
but  when  the  soul  has  ascended  to  the  highest  orders 
of  existence,  it  begins  to  realize  that  all  this  finite 
perfection,  this  perfection  of  degrees  and  of  variable- 
ness can  never  fully  manifest  the  supreme  perfection 
of  Self.  Supreme  perfection  cannot  be  realized 
within  the  limitations  of  finite  evolution.  Supreme 
perfection  is  characteristic  of  supreme  and  of  infi- 
nite existence;  compared  with  infinite  existence  and 
infinite  perfection  all  this  minor  evolution,  however 
great  its  proportions,  is  but  a  drop  compared  to  the 
ocean.  The  infinite  is  ever  the  infinite  even  though 
it  manifests  in  the  relative  order.  Beyond  the  rela- 
tive, including  the  relative,  it  is  the  infinite. 

Involution  is  the  causal  state  of  evolution.  From 
coarsest  substance,  from  gross  forms,  from  undevel- 
oped faculties  and  limited  tendencies  men  have 
evolved  to  that  point  where  fineness  and  complexity 


252  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

of  form,  where  powerful  faculties  and  evolutionary 
tendencies  are  uplifting  humanity  into  wider  avenues 
of  racial  and  individual  perfection.  Each  creature 
is  one  with  every  other  creature  in  the  community  of 
original  life,  original  expression,  original  initiative 
of  impulse  towards  the  upward  circle  of  evolution. 
Therefore  the  highest  duty  manifests  in  service  to 
others.  This  tendency  of  service  and  co-operation  in 
the  work  of  evolution  is  observed  in  the  lives  of  the 
higher  mammals,  frequently  sacrificing  themselves 
for  the  perpetuity  of  offspring  and  the  protec- 
tion of  members  of  the  same  species.  In  man,  this 
tendency  to  serve  is  the  fundamental  essential  of  the 
civilizing  impulse  and  of  the  achievement  of  civiliza- 
tion. Yet  it  is  difficult  for  many  to  grow  apart  from 
that  lower  order  of  expression,  the  order  of  brute 
manifestation,  which  specializes  its  activity  in  the 
lust  and  the  satisfaction  of  instinctive  desires.  Take 
away  the  higher  mind  and  you  have  the  beast.  That 
is  the  "beast  within"  to  be  conquered  and  controlled 
so  that  the  higher  and  important  principles  of  man 
may  be  completely  expressed  and  brought  into  the 
line  of  highest  manifestation.  Behind  the  polished 
courtier  of  the  most  exacting  court  is  that  same 
spirit,  hidden  within  the  depth  of  subconscious  life, 
which  unites  and  makes  him  one  with  the  roving 
tigers  of  the  Himalayan  regions.  The  fiercest  and 
wildest  instincts  of  the  brute  lie  submerged  in  the 
depths  of  each  individual.  Through  repeated  human 
lives  and  through  suppression  of  selfishness  conflict- 
ing with  collective  welfare,  the  individual  is  com- 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  253 


pelled  to  control  his  bestial  instincts,  to  manifest  the 
higher  instincts  and  develop  talents  and  qualities 
that  render  him  of  value  to  the  social  status.  Yet 
who  can  tell  in  what  hour  of  psychological  dis- 
turbance the  known  surface  of  evolution  may  not  be 
violently  uprooted  by  an  upheaval  from  the  depths 
of  subconscious  life  with  its  memory  of  brute  lives 
and  brute  instincts  ?  The  psychic  mechanism  of 
such  fine,  almost  aesthetic  structure  accounts  for 
the  evolution  of  man,  his  normal,  active,  conscious 
struggle  towards  greater  manifestation.  But  does 
it  not  equally  account,  when  its  activity  is  disturbed 
by  subconscious  tendencies,  for  those  otherwise  inex- 
plicable crimes  which  are  frequently  pardoned  under 
the  plea  of  momentary  insanity  ?  The  normal  activ- 
ity of  the  conscious  mind  is  of  most  delicate  adjust- 
ment. It  is  remarkable  that  more  of  these  crimes  are 
not  perpetrated.  We  hear  of  persons,  whose  lives 
have  been  exemplary  and  irreproachable,  suddenly 
losing  hold  of  all  moral  values,  and  killing  those  in 
their  immediate  affection,  or  perhaps  committing 
some  outrageous  transgression  against  social  ethics. 
Their  crime  is  purely  psychological.  It  has  psychic 
beginnings  beyond  the  action  or  control  of  the  will, 
beyond  even  the  appreciation  of  individual  judgment 
or  consciousness.  Insanity  is  the  prolonged  expres- 
sion of  temporary  psychic  upheavals.  Disturbances 
of  normal  consciousness,  or  of  any  of  its  faculties 
arise  through  the  maladjustment  of  certain  subcon- 
scious to  certain  normal  phases  of  the  mind.  Gen- 
erally, the  subconscious  influence  is  the  more  power- 


254  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

fill.  Possessing  insight  into  the  various  principles 
that  constitute  personality,  we  can  somewhat  compre- 
hend the  origin  of  insanity,  of  insane  emotions,  fixed 
ideas,  eccentric  fears,  and  so  on.  Insanity  is  almost 
inexplicable.  We  may  analyze  the  symptoms,  but  we 
can  never  explain  the  subconscious  action,  the  psychic 
disturbance  which  disrupts  the  normal  functionings 
of  consciousness.  A  state  of  insanity  is  the  condensa- 
tion of  its  individual  parts.  If  we  know  the  individ- 
ual parts  developing  complex  insanity,  or  a  strain  of 
dominant  ideas  that  control  the  will,  we  have  the 
clue  to  the  cause  of  insanity,  and  thus  the  prescrip- 
tion for  the  cure.  Every  insane  state  is  the  ag- 
gravated condensation  of  what,  for  the  lack  of  better 
terms,  may  be  called  "insane  atoms."  These  atoms 
have  their  source  in  the  dissipated  states  of  normal 
consciousness.  Indecision  in  a  vital  moral  matter  is 
a  breaking  away  from  normal  expression.  These  sin- 
gular breaks  repeated,  become  fixed  and  controlling; 
a  habit  of  abnormal  relations  is  formed,  disturb- 
ing the  natural  adaptation  of  the  lower  to  the  psycho- 
spiritual  qualities.  The  bond  which  unites  the  lower 
to  the  higher  is  broken.  The  lower  begins  to  wander. 
In  the  wandering  it  more  and  more  severs  itself  from 
those  elements  still  united  and  normally  expressive. 
With  the  extension  of  habit  consciousness  concen- 
trates on  abnormal  features.  Finally,  through  the 
confusion  of  consciousness  with  eccentric  ideation,  the 
normal  functions  of  consciousness  recede  from  the 
surface  area  into  the  psychic  abysses  of  subconscious 
life.     In  bold  relief  then  stands  the  unbalanced  ec- 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  255 

centric  state  of  mind.     It  grows  as  does  any  separate 
normal  activity. 

Birthright  was  an  important  feature  of  ancient 
Hebraic  belief  which  bore  a  meaning  apart  from  the 
surface  interpretation.  The  Hebrews  had  their  eso- 
tericism.  Their  biblical  writings  were  but  a  small 
fraction  of  their  spiritual  lore.  They  had  their 
Kaballa,  their  school  of  Essenian  philosophers,  their 
school  of  Prophet  Initiates.  The  ideas  which  found 
expression  in  their  sacred  literature  were  but  partial 
truths,  the  important  truth  and  significance  resting  in 
that  depth  of  esoteric  wisdom,  confined  within  the 
silence  of  Kaballistic  circles.  The  esoteric  version  of 
the  privilege  of  birthright  is  precedence,  not  so  much 
by  right  of  physical  birth  as  by  right  of  spiritual  pro- 
gression. Special  occult  privileges  were  accorded  the 
first  born.  Apart  from  the  fact  of  being  first  born  by 
right  of  physical  precedence,  apart  from  family  dis- 
tinctions and  relationships,  each  and  every  soul  is 
first  born  in  the  divine  right  of  the  Higher  Self,  the 
Self  of  all  animate  and  inanimate  objects.  Then,  too, 
there  is  the  first  born,  the  highest  developed  portion 
of  the  individual,  first  born  by  being  most  perfectly 
evolved.  Birthright  makes  great  requisites.  It  calls 
upon  us  for  support,  for  loyalty.  It  tells  us  that  it 
embodies  the  true  and  the  real  elements  of  our 
nature,  that,  if  we  are  sincere,  we  must  accentuate 
its  greater  importance.  Loyalty  to  our  birthright  is 
loyalty  to  Self.  In  loyalty  to  their  spiritual  birth- 
right men  become  serviceable  to  whomsoever  they 
come  into  contact  with.     They  grow  into  the  fulness 


25G  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

of  their  nature.  They  become  one  with  the  heart  of 
the  universe,  one  with  the  evolutionary  principle 
which  guides  into  greater  avenues  of  expression  each 
and  every  phase  of  life.  In  service  to  the  interests 
which  birthright  involves  the  soul  not  only  becomes 
master  of  itself,  but  master  of  nature  as  well.  Obe- 
dience is  better  than  sacrifice.  Obedience  does  not 
enslave.  By  becoming  one  with  nature,  men  become 
disposers  of  universal  power,  conduits  of  universal 
knowledge.  They  become  the  priests  of  the  Greater 
Faith,  the  children  of  the  Great  Mother  Principle  in 
nature.  In  this  mystic  sense  they  are  first-born.  In 
this  mystic  sense  they  are  disciples  of  the  First 
Teacher,  the  Teacher  of  Teachers.  The  birthright  of 
the  soul  is  the  sum-total  of  its  possibilities  either  pres- 
ent or  latent.  It  is  the  possession  of  infinite  strength 
and  peace.  The  soul  is  a  channel  for  the  inflow  of 
the  spiritual  principles  sustaining  mental  and  physi- 
cal expression.  By  placing  itself  in  direct  relation- 
ship with  the  Center  and  Source  of  Truth,  the  soul 
becomes  one  with  that  Center  and  Source.  The 
Master  said  to  his  disciple:  "My  boy,  if  you  had  no 
one  to  teach  you  the  law,  how,  then,  would  you  go 
about  to  acquire  the  highest  knowledge  V  The  reply 
followed :  "He,  the  Antaryamin  within,  He  the  soul 
of  my  soul  would  communicate  it  to  me,  for  He  is  the 
strength  and  knowledge  even  of  the  greatest  teacher." 
Said  the  Master :  "Even  so,  my  child.  The  Teacher 
even  now  has  spoken  to  you." 

Directing  our  desire  for  spiritual  advancement  to 
the  Spirit,  calling  upon  Him  Whose  mighty  soul  is 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  257 

an  infinite  ocean  of  truth,  and  Whose  love  manifests 
when  the  soul  seeks,  is  the  speedy  path  toward  the 
goal  of  realization.  The  Christ  said  to  his  disciples, 
and  not  alone  to  them  but  to  all  souls :  "Seek  and  ye 
shall  find.  Knock  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you." 
The  birthright  of  the  soul  is  pure,  unqualified  divin- 
ity. "Thou  art  That,"  say  the  Vedas.  In  this  spirit 
omniscience,  omnipotence,  peace  eternal,  bliss  bound- 
less, love  infinite  are  existential  qualities  of  the  soul. 
Behind  this  veil  of  cosmic  illusion,  behind  this  dense 
manifestation  of  surface  life  shines  the  light  of 
lights,  the  essence  of  knowledge,  the  essence  of  all 
great  and  good  qualities  as  they  are  relatively  condi- 
tioned. Men  must  gaze  beneath  the  surface.  They 
must  sink  into  the  abyss  of  their  nature  and  there 
they  will  discover  how :  "The  abyss  of  the  individual 
soul  cries  unto  the  abyss  of  the  soul  of  God  saying: 
'Which  is  the  more  profound  V  "  In  reality  neither 
is  more  profound,  for  apart  from  the  distinctions 
which  this  surface  life  imposes,  they  are  "One  with- 
out a  second,"  equal  in  glory,  in  power,  in  reality, 
in  adorableness,  in  everlastingness,  in  the  eternal,  "I 
AM."  It  is  a  crime  to  declare  that  the  soul  is  other 
than  the  Highest  Self.  It  is  superstitious  to  believe 
that  the  soul  is  the  body.  As  great  a  materialism  is 
it  to  say  that  the  soul  is  the  mind.  It  is  neither  mind 
nor  body.  Both  mind  and  body  are  limited.  Both 
appear  only  in  the  manifestation  of  Maya,  the  univer- 
sal illusion.  Neither  of  the  body  nor  of  the  mind  can 
it  be  said  that  it  is  or  that  it  is  not.  The  essential  I  is 
Spirit.     It  is  beyond  sex.     Sex  involves  duality.     It 


258  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

discriminates,  and  in  the  discrimination  birth  orig- 
inates. The  free  and  ancient  Spirit  is  neither  born 
nor  dies.  It  is  above  qualities ;  it  is  beyond  all  forms, 
all  distinction,  all  caste,  all  class,  all  potential  and 
all  manifesting  conditions.  This  universe,  stupend- 
ous as  it  is,  is  not  even  as  a  drop  of  water  to  vast 
seas.  In  the  highest  sense,  it  is  not.  Spirit  alone  is. 
Therefore,  neither  is  mind  nor  body  real.  Spirit,  un- 
conditioned and  absolute,  is  the  essence  of  soul.  What 
is  Spirit  ?  Only  to  Spirit  is  Spirit  known.  Only  to 
Spirit  does  Spirit  exist.  To  glimpse  Spirit,  it  being 
beyond  intellect  and  beyond  sense  grasp,  the  soul 
must  reach  beyond  its  normal  faculties  of  perception. 
Kant  has  told  us  there  is  a  wall  beyond  which  reason 
can  never  go.  He  has  likewise  said  that  religion  and 
the  perception  of  spiritual  realities  can  be  experi- 
enced only  through  the  soul.  It  is  hard  to  break  down 
that  wall  of  reason.  In  the  first  place  reason  is  stub- 
born. It  wants  solid  proofs.  It  abhors  mere  faith. 
It  demands  logic.  It  constantly  debates.  Reason, 
however,  is  dependent  on  sense  experience,  and  how 
limited  the  latter  is !  The  task  of  reaching  the  plane 
of  superconscious  truth  is  difficult,  but  the  goal  is 
worth  all  cost,  all  effort.  Inspiration,  intuition,  the 
whisperings  of  conscience,  all  are  beyond  reason.  In- 
tuition has  relations  to  practical  experience.  All  of 
us  have  witnessed  the  working  out  of  intuition  into 
verities  of  conscious  experience.  For  example,  take 
those  unprovable  truths  which  come  into  the  area  of 
normal  consciousness.  If  heeded,  they  often  give 
warning  of  danger,  sometimes  a  greater  understand- 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  259 

ing  of  already  known  values  and  aid  the  soul  in  travel- 
ing the  devious  paths  of  personal  life.  The  birthright 
of  the  soul  is  its  possibility  of  grasping  hold  of  univer- 
sal knowledge.    But  there  are  moral  relations. 

Esau  sold  his  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage. 
Each  time  the  soul  deviates  from  the  mormal  path, 
each  time  it  accentuates  the  lower  elements,  each 
time  the  soul  allows  the  persuasions  of  animal  in- 
stincts and  of  the  brute  within  to  have  their  course, 
it  sells  its  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage.  Many 
soar,  but  like  vultures  they  cannot  close  their  vision 
to  the  carrion  below.  The  symbol  of  the  soaring  of 
the  soul  into  the  proper  height  of  spiritual  endeavor 
and  realization  is  the  eagle.  The  eagle  with  mar- 
velous vision  faces  the  blinding  light  of  the  sun. 
The  soul,  attuned  to  spiritual  harmonies,  faces  the 
Light  of  lights,  the  Central  Sun.  Thus  is  the  soul 
the  Son  of  God  and  partaker  of  His  spiritual  qualities. 
The  soul  is  symbolized  in  the  lotus.  The  lotus  stands 
apart  from  the  contaminated  waters  in  which  it  has 
unfolded.  Unsoiled  and  beautiful  it  retains  its 
purity,  sweetness  and  wholesomeness.  The  soul, 
though  merged  in  the  worldliness  of  social  and  ma- 
terial life,  though  the  discords  of  ignorance  and 
worldly  passions  beat  wildly  against  it,  brave,  pure, 
holy  and  discriminating,  it  is  as  the  lotus,  unsullied 
and  unstained.  Men  appreciate  the  importance  of  a 
thing  when  they  are  acquainted  with  its  essential 
value.  They  adapt  themselves  to  a  truth  only  as 
they  are  convinced  of  its  useful  and  saving  quali- 
ties.    This  occurs  in  the  world  of  practical  experi- 


260  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

ence,  but  it  also  relates  to  the  world  of  spiritual  ad- 
vancement. If  the  mind  were  absolutely  convinced  of 
the  truth  which  lies  beyond  normal  intellectual  per- 
ception, if  the  senses  could  perceive  the  realities  be- 
yond the  veil  which  separates  one  plane  of  conscious- 
ness from  the  other,  our  entire  life  and  the  view 
of  life  would  be  related  to  a  newer  knowledge  of 
things  useful  and  practical.  ISTo  one  is  truly  spirit- 
ual, no  one  mindful  of  the  birthright  of  his  soul  who 
allows  himself  to  swerve  from  the  path  and  the  faith. 
~No  one  appreciates  the  divine  right  of  his  individual- 
ity who  suppresses  the  expansion  of  the  higher  qual- 
ities of  his  nature  by  giving  rein  to  false  instincts, 
having  root  and  expression  in  ignorance.  Truly 
mindful  of  the  central  facts  of  the  soul  and  its  birth- 
right, the  children  of  Light  forsake  seeming  practi- 
calities, become  enthusiasts  of  unworldly  wisdom 
and  practitioners  of  things  seemingly  incoherent 
with  the  normal  adaptation  of  the  individual  to 
social  and  economic  surroundings.  A  very  great 
Hindu  saint,  regarded  by  many  as  a  divine  incarna- 
tion, was  asked  why  he  was  so  mad  after  religion. 
The  saint  made  answer:  "All  are  mad,  some  for 
money,  some  for  name,  some  for  fame,  some  for 
going  to  heaven.  In  this  universe  everyone  is  mad. 
I,  too,  am  mad.  I  am  mad  after  God.  You  are 
mad,  so  am  I.  After  all,  I  think  my  madness  is  the 
best." 

The  mystic  is  the  greatest  philosopher.  The  logi- 
cian reasons.  The  mystic  feels.  He  feels  what  the 
former  merely  perceives.     He  senses  what  the  logi- 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  261 

cian  philosophically  knows.  Feeling  is  the  greatest 
method  of  arriving  at  truth.  Of  what  one  feels  he 
is  certain.  Eeason  moves  within  circles.  Conscious 
knowledge  is  alone  true. 

The  soul  is  redeemed  from  all  eternity.  "No  Christ 
can  save  us.  He  can  only  tell  us  what  we  should  do. 
The  Buddha  told  the  world  that  each  individual  soul 
must  meet  its  personal  responsibility.  The  Swami 
Vivekananda  said :  "ISTo  doubting  person  can  reach 
the  goal.  He  who  does  not  believe  in  himself  is  an 
atheist.  Know  that  you  cannot  have  faith  in  the 
Lord  unless  you  have  first  faith  in  yourself."  Shov- 
ing the  burden  of  individual  redemption  upon  the 
shoulders  of  a  Christ  is  weakness.  "The  Lord  helps 
those  who  help  themselves."  He  gives  them  His 
saving  power.  He  privileges  them  with  the  concep- 
tion of  truth.  He  accords  them  that  supernormal 
perception  of  reality  which  leads  to  supreme  wisdom. 
The  birthright  of  the  soul  is  glorious,  but  glorious  also 
must  be  the  adaptation  of  the  soul  to  its  birthright, 
the  effort  of  the  soul  to  materialize  faculties  and  qual- 
ities into  the  field  of  conduct  and  knowledge.  We 
are  our  own  redeemers.  From  all  eternity  and  by 
right  of  the  Spirit  within  are  we  redeemed.  Exist- 
ence absolute,  knowledge  absolute,  bliss  absolute. 
Such  is  the  heritage  to  which  we  are  destined  by 
right  divine.  Who  is  greater  than  Self?  Who  en- 
compasses within  his  nature  more  of  truth  than  an- 
other? Of  one  soul  substance  are  we  all.  The  per- 
mutations of  mind-stuff  within  the  soul  cause  it  to 
say :  "I  am  this.   I  am  that.   I  suffer.  I  eat.   I  sleep," 


262  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

and  so  forth.  That  is  not  Self.  All  these  statements 
represent  certain  states  of  mind.  Consciousness  is  un- 
qualified. The  permutations  of  mind  reflected  upon 
the  pure  mirror  of  Spirit  grow  into  expression,  but 
the  expression  is  lifeless.  A  pure  crystal  is  not  red 
because  of  the  reflection  of  a  scarlet  rose  upon  it.  It 
only  appears  to  be  red.  Remove  the  rose  and  there 
is  the  pure  crystal.  Similarly  is  it  with  regard  to  the 
stainless,  unqualified,  unmodified  soul.  It  appears 
to  be  angry,  tired,  vain,  indisposed  in  mind  or  body, 
because  of  the  permutations  of  mind-stuff  upon  its 
unspotted,  pure  surface.  Remove  the  elements  of 
mind  and  the  existential  soul,  undefiled  Spirit  shines 
forth.  We  cannot  understand  the  unqualified  nature 
of  the  soul.  We  cannot  perceive  how  pure  conscious- 
ness becomes  seemingly  qualified.  The  present  area 
of  consciousness  is  before  us.  If  we  remember,  how- 
ever, that  what  we  are  to-day  is  by  reason  of  unfold- 
ment  of  qualities  previously  latent ;  if  we  recall  that 
the  knowledge  we  now  possess  was  at  one  time  poten- 
tial, we  will  in  a  manner  comprehend  the  reason  why 
we  cannot  now  understand  the  nature  of  unqualified 
consciousness  and  why  we  may  understand  in  the 
future.  Immediately  before  is  the  unknowable.  But 
the  unknowable  will  sometime  become  the  known. 
Such  is  the  process  of  progression ;  such  the  evolution 
which  enables  the  soul  to  partake  of  and  experience 
the  new  power  and  the  higher  expansion  of  conscious- 
ness into  hitherto  unknown  realms. 

O,    Wisdom    Supreme!      O,    Love    Unutterable! 
Reach  us  through  and  through  ourselves.     Guide  us 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  2G3 


in  such  ways  as  exalt  in  our  understanding  the  birth- 
right of  the  soul.  Give  us  ample  knowledge  and 
sustaining  protection,  so  that  in  the  day  of  Light  we 
may  be  one  of  those  whose  raiments  are  more  brill- 
iant than  the  sun.  Our  personalities  have  vibratory 
force.  Sensitive  natures  are  aware  and  come  under 
the  influence  of  the  individual  aura.  This  aura  is 
seen  about  many  images  of  the  saints  and  sages  in 
the  form  of  emanating  rays  of  light.  Spirituality  is 
to  the  soul  what  the  perfume  is  to  the  sweet-smelling 
rose.  It  is  the  sweet  persuasiveness  of  spirituality 
which  reaches  the  very  depths  of  soul  and  with 
bonds  of  love  rivets  it  in  religious  ecstasy  and  devo- 
tion. Let  us  place  the  Ideal  of  our  lives  on  the 
altar  of  our  hearts,  consecrating  our  souls  to  the 
realization  of  Divinity.  Worthiest  consideration  is 
due  the  Ideal,  and  extreme  and  unselfish  devotion. 
Men  are  the  masters  of  power  when  they  devote 
themselves  to  the  perfection  of  the  Within.  That 
is  the  meaning  of  true  devotion,  devotion  to  the 
Ideal.  One  may  call  that  Ideal  Christ,  Buddha, 
Krishna,  Ramakrishna;  one  may  call  it  Mother, 
Father,  Jehovah  or  the  Absolute,  or  it  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  Self  eternal. 

There  are  surface  philosophers  who  question  the 
extreme  in  philosophy.  Even  in  Christianity,  were 
one  to  literally  adopt  the  teachings  of  the  Christ,  he 
would  be  rated,  to  say  the  very  least,  as  eccentric.  But 
the  extreme  is  the  only  method  of  attaining  the  goal. 
One  cannot  stop  at  half-truths  or  half-efforts.  There 
are  those  who  smile  at  the  profound  philosophies  of 


264  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

the  mystic  Orient.  They  say  that  the  Buddhists,  the 
Brahmans,  and  the  Vedantins  are  dreamers.  They 
assert  their  philosophies  are  ineffectual  in  work-a- 
day  life.  It  is  true ;  these  philosophies  are  not  prac- 
tical in  the  accustomed  sense  of  the  word.  This  is 
the  land  of  material  expansion,  the  land  of  temporal 
prosperity,  the  land  where  the  word  practical  has 
a  meaning  only  in  its  positive  relation  to  money,  ma- 
terial power  and  aggressiveness.  If  spirituality  can- 
not gain  a  foothold  with  men  through  its  own  inher- 
ent beauty,  if  its  overwhelmingly  practical  value  can- 
not be  discerned,  if  its  saving  grace,  power,  and 
reformatory  influence  cannot  be  duly  appreciated, 
then  it  will  remain  potential  until  the  individual  has 
progressed  to  the  point  of  individual  perception. 
Practical  it  is  in  every  sense.  The  idea  of  practical- 
ity is  intimately  associated  with  the  idea  of  happi- 
ness. Show  man  how  his  real  happiness  is  consis- 
tent with  spiritual  knowledge  and  progress,  show  him 
the  usefulness  of  spiritual  effort,  persuade  him  of 
the  great  service  spiritual  truth  has  in  the  world  of 
mind  and  body  and  his  idea  of  happiness  will  shift 
from  lower  to  higher  points.  Emphasize  the  neces- 
sity of  the  soul's  adoration  to  Spirit  by  reason  of  the 
existence  of  Spirit.  If  spiritual  truth  blesses  us  in 
the  sphere  of  mind  and  body,  let  us  be  grateful,  but 
let  us  not  bargain.  Let  us  not  be  spiritual  because  of 
worldly  advantage.  Such  attitudes  are  the  lingering 
notes  of  the  religion  of  barbarism.  In  viewing  a 
glorious  natural  scene  we  do  not  seek  any  return  from 
nature  in  giving  our  admiration  and  our  love.     The 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  265 

very  fact  that  we  admire  and  adore  is,  of  itself,  up- 
lifting. "Virtue  is  its  own  reward,"  and  so  is  spir- 
itual effort. 

"One  nature  delights  in  another,"  reads  an  an- 
cient Egyptian  manuscript;  "one  nature  overcomes 
another ;  one  nature  overrules  another,  and  the  whole 
of  them  are  one."  The  birthright  of  which  the  soul 
is  possessed  has  this  power  of  overruling  one  element 
of  our  nature  so  that  the  next  higher  develops  expres- 
sion. Conserve  the  worthy,  reject  the  unworthy. 
Crush  the  lower  so  that  the  higher  may  manifest. 
Devotion  to  the  ideal  of  progression  demands  this. 
Sometimes  the  methods  employed  to  suppress  an 
undesirable  element  require  greatest  diligence  and 
patience,  but,  when  the  victory  is  gained,  the  task 
seems  light.  The  deathbed  has  always  been  a  forcible 
argument  in  the  preachings  of  evangelists.  But  the 
terrors  of  the  deathbed,  that  is,  the  theological  ter- 
rors, are  mythical.  The  real  terror  of  the  last  illness 
is  remorse,  the  sting  of  conscience  at  the  recital  of 
the  soul  against  itself  of  wasted  opportunities,  of 
wasted  talents  and  privileges.  The  mess  of  pottage 
for  which  so  many  are  struggling,  so  many  giving  up 
birthright  of  soul,  is  this  melange  of  name  and  fame, 
position  and  importance,  lust  and  greed.  Men  are 
tremendously  given  over  to  things  temporal.  One 
of  the  greatest  curses  which  ignorance  entails  is  this 
density  of  perception  which  hinders  appreciation  of 
spiritual  things.  Qualities  of  mind  are  beyond  the 
values  of  commercial  life.  The  mind  has  possessions 
which   infinitely   surpass   the   treasures   into   which 


266  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

thieves  may  break.  No  man  can  rob  another  of  his 
mental  storehouse.  His  mental  attainment  is  as 
much  a  part  and  parcel  of  himself  as  his  individ- 
uality. "Who  steals  my  purse  steals  trash,  but  he 
who  filches  from  me  my  good  name  robs  me  of  that 
which  not  enriches  him  and  leaves  me  poor  indeed," 
said  Shakespeare,  mindful  of  the  fact  that  character 
is  above  all  temporal  wealth.  The  soul  manifests  in 
graduated  individuality.  It  is  the  quintessence  of 
Divinity  and,  accordingly  as  we  are  loyal  to  truth, 
we  are  spiritual  inheritors. 

Spiritualism  is  effectual  in  the  sense  of  conferring 
upon  us  a  knowledge  of  worlds  of  sentiency  and  mani- 
festation other  than  the  one  we  inhabit.  It  teaches 
the  individual  the  futility  of  concentrating  the  entire 
consciousness  upon  the  quantities  and  qualities  of 
this  plane  of  experience.  It  teaches  him  to  distract 
consciousness  from  the  desire  of  external  possessions, 
and  weighs  the  importance  of  developing  menta- 
spiritual  realities.  Consciousness  gains  experiences 
on  each  plane  in  ratio  as  the  relations  of  conscious- 
ness to  outer  phenomena  cause  development  of  under- 
standing. In  every  sense  experience,  there  is  left  the 
result.  Certain  external  stimuli  conveyed  through 
the  optical  nerves  to  the  brain  cause  the  mind  to  react 
and  experience  the  idea  of  danger  or  joy,  and  so  on. 
Thus,  in  the  sum-total  of  sense  experience  on  a  plane, 
the  essential  fact  is  the  increase  of  judgment  and  the 
increase  of  comprehension.  The  within  is  the  real; 
the  within  the  true;  the  within  immortal.     Sacrifice 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  267 

the  external,  and  the  within  grows  greater  and  greater. 
The  capacity  to  experience  develops  with  control. 
This  control  is  gained  through  the  discrimination  of 
desire  and  through  the  discrimination  in  the  indulg- 
ence of  desire.  Denial  and  affirmation,  restraint  and 
freedom,  control  and  enjoyment — in  the  friction  be- 
tween these  the  divine  fire  of  the  soul  is  lighted. 
There  is  valuable  teaching  in  the  parable  of  the  tal- 
ents. The  burial  of  the  money  is  symbolic  of  the 
burial  of  possibilities  leading  to  the  higher  expres- 
sion of  emotion,  truth,  and  character.  He  who 
passes  the  precincts  of  life,  idly  wandering  through 
its  temple,  leaves  its  outermost  gates  a  fool.  He 
leaves  it  empty-handed.  His  life  is  a  vanity.  He  is 
less  than  when  he  passed  the  threshold  of  life,  for  he 
has  allowed  his  possibilities  to  atrophy  through  dis- 
use. Free  was  he  to  choose.  He  could  have  perfected 
himself.  He  could  have  trodden  the  "sunlit  heights." 
The  woe  is  the  degradation,  the  retrogression.  That 
much-abused  and  much-misunderstood  paragon  of 
poets,  Oscar  Wilde,  has  written  a  very  excellent  and 
appropriate  sonnet  entitled,  "Helas": 

"To  drift  with  every  passion  till  my  soul 

Is  a  stringed  lute  on  which  all  winds  can  p.ay, 
Is  it  for  this  that  I  have  given  away 
Mine  ancient  wisdom,  and  austere  control? 

Surely  there  was  a  time  I  might  have  trod 
The  sunlit  heights,  and  from  life's  dissonance 

Struck  one  clear  chord  to  reach  the  ears  of  God: 

Is  that  time  dead?  lo!   with  a  little  rod 
I  did  but  touch  the  honey  of  romance — 
And  must  I  lo£e  a  soul's  inheritance?" 


268  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

He  who  could  have  written  this,  he  who  could  have 
written : 

"We  shall  be 
Part  of  the  mighty  universal  whole, 

And  through  all  aeons  mix  and  mingle  with  the    Kosmic 
Soul," 

was  not  alone  a  poet,  but  a  seer,  a  man  of  rich  deli- 
cacy and  exquisiteness  of  soul.  Alas !  sins  do  we  all 
commit,  but  whom  do  we  wish  to  recite  them  ?  "Let 
him  who  is  without  sin  cast  the  first  stone,"  said  the 
Master.  Whosoever  enriches  the  world  with  the 
charm  of  music  or  of  poetry,  whosoever,  in  any  man- 
ner, renders  service  to  human  kind  should  be  at  least 
twice  thought  of,  before  being  utterly  and  irrevo- 
cably condemned.  The  genius-soul  of  Wilde,  through 
the  wreck  of  his  besmirched  reputation,  shines  like 
a  brilliant  jewel  in  the  dark,  upon  whose  surface  has 
been  cast  a  ray  of  burning  light.  There  are  the 
daughters  of  Eve  and  the  daughters  of  Lilith,  the 
former  conventional,  the  latter  reactionary.  But  the 
daughters  of  Lilith  have  mercy. 

Out  of  the  Infinitely  Perfect  Soul  came  the  souls 
of  all,  potential  with  Infinity,  potential  with  Divin- 
ity. The  Perfect  Soul  is  the  soul  of  the  souls  of  all. 
Unto  Him  is  truth,  unto  Him  peace,  unto  Him  ever- 
lastingness  of  perfection  and  silent  calm !  Unto  Him 
may  all  hearts  of  the  universe  turn!  Unto  Him  be 
perpetuity  of  adoration,  praise  and  benediction!  He 
the  Perfect  One  is  beyond  myself,  yet  am  I  He.  Let 
the  wisdom  of  the  mind  become  self-centered.  Let 
it  convert  itself  to  the  Essence  of  Wisdom.  The  Es- 
senians  sought  the  vital  Essence  of  things.    May  our 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  269 


minds   and  hearts  be  occupied   with  that  Essence ! 

0  Perfect  One,  Truth,  Life  and  Love,  unto  Thee  do 
we  consecrate  ourselves.  May  the  personal  fade  into 
the  Impersonal !  Is  such  fading  death  ?  Nay,  life 
endless  is  it;  it  is  omnipotence  and  omniscience.  It 
is  the  realization  of  Divinity.  Adoration  to  the  High- 
est Self,  adoration  to  Him,  the  Self  of  selves,  the 
True,  the  Real !  The  inestimable  privilege  of  birth- 
right is  the  possibility  of  becoming  a  more  perfect 
conduit  for  the  inflow  of  inexhaustible  wisdom  and 
love.  The  greatest  knower  is  the  greatest  lover.  Said 
a  great  Teacher  to  the  Master:  "My  Lord,  thou  art 
Perfect  Wisdom  clothed  with  Perfect  Love.  Those 
who  see  Thee  in  the  fulness  of  Thy  glory,  see  not 
only  Supreme  Love  but  Omniscience."  The  Master 
made  answer:  "My  child,  son  of  truth  and  bliss,  if 

1  am  Perfect  "Wisdom  clothed  with  Perfect  Love, 
then  thou  art  Perfect  Love  clothed  with  Perfect 
Wisdom."  But  the  other  disciples  were  conscious 
only  of  the  Great  Love  of  the  Master  and  the  Great 
Wisdom  of  the  Teacher.  The  Two  understood  and 
regarded  each  other  as  one  in  essence,  partakers  of 
identical  qualities  and  perfection.  O  Teacher  of 
teachers,  O  Master  Supreme,  strengthen  us  in  the 
divinity  of  our  birthright!  Pender  us  conscious  of 
opportunities  for  greater  and  greater  unfoldment. 
Teach  us  the  truths  of  the  Path.  Lead  us  to  the 
feet  of  Self.  "Reach  us  through  and  through  our- 
selves and,  evermore,  O  Supreme,  protect  us  from 
ignorance  by  Thy  sweet  compassionate  heart." 

There  are  those  who  say  how  can  we  make  any 


270  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

personal  effort  at  emancipation  from  the  fetters  of 
ignorance,  how  make  any  attainment  towards  the 
goal  of  realization  if  the  will  is  bound,  if  our  rela- 
tions with  nature  are  controlled  by  the  so-called  Law 
of  the  Inevitable  ?  First  we  have  to  prove  the  state- 
ment that  we  are  bound.  The  true  individual  is  not 
bound  except  in  the  sense  that  he  binds  himself  and, 
even  as  he  has  bound  himself,  so  may  he  likewise  set 
himself  free.  True  it  is  that  from  a  certain  point  of 
view  we  are  bound.  "We  are  bound  by  the  Karma 
of  the  past,  by  the  tremendous  influence  of  past 
thoughts,  deeds,  words  and  omissions.  Great,  how- 
ever, as  it  is,  this  bondage  can  be  cleaved.  The 
sublime  heights  of  the  philosophy  of  the  incom- 
parable Vedanta  gives  us  glimpses  of  brightest 
promise.  "We  have  reason  to  hope.  We  have  cause 
for  courage  divine,  the  courage  which  makes  mountains 
of  psychic  influences  vanish  before  the  all-powerful 
will.  Our  prestige  is  omnipotence.  We,  the  inheritors 
of  divinity,  need  never  falter.  At  our  side,  sustaining 
and  protecting,  is  Immortal  Spirit,  Truth  and  Power. 
''Knowledge  is  power."  The  adage  is  true  in  more 
than  one  way.  It  is  consistent  with  the  idea  of 
growth  of  perception.  Acquainted  with  a  greater 
number  of  facts  we  become  controllers  of  the  psychic 
and  chemical  forces  these  facts  represent.  Ideas, 
facts  and  forces  are  interblended.  By  gaining  con- 
trol of  one  we  gain  control  of  the  other.  Gaining  the 
meaning  of  a  fact  one  gains  the  secret  of  its  potency. 
That  was  the  original  signification  of  magic.  Words 
are  the  expression  of  ideas.     Ideas  bear  conscious  re- 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  271 

lation  to  realities.  Realities  convert  to  ideas,  and 
so  on.  Thus  do  we  find  in  the  sacred  literature  of 
all  peoples  stories  of  the  control  of  circumstances 
and  forces  through  the  chanting  of  certain  words, 
bearing  a  vital  relation  to  the  facts  involved,  and  to 
the  states  of  consciousness  to  which  those  facts  were 
equivalent.  Magic  has  deepest  realities.  Magic,  also, 
is  in  most  wonderful  accord  with  the  truths  and  dis- 
coveries of  modern  science.  First  ridiculed  as  an- 
cient superstition,  its  place  is  now  allotted  in  psycho- 
chemical  sciences.  Ideas  are  immediate  in  their  reac- 
tion upon  the  physical  influences  that  are  conter- 
minous with  them.  The  entire  field  of  thought  has 
changing  and  modifying  power  in  the  entire  field 
of  physical  motion.  The  cause  for  our  slavery  to 
the  changing  facts  in  nature  is  the  ignorance  in  not 
.  knowing  how  to  direct  thought  in  such  a  manner 
that  its  activity  upon  the  physical  area  of  expression 
will  be  superior  to  the  influences  of  the  physical  area 
upon  the  mental.  Once  the  tremendous  energy  of 
thought  has  been  well-centered  and  definitely  di- 
rected all  physical  forces  and  contra-vibrant  in- 
fluences are  shattered. 

The  keynote  to  spiritual  symphonies,  the  note 
that  awakens  the  soul  to  higher  levels  of  realization, 
fulfilling  its  promises  and  privileges  of  birthright, 
is  faith.  Reason  lingers  amid  the  folds  of  doubt  and 
doubt  is  negative,  weak.  It  throttles  the  power  to  do 
and  to  be.  It  discourages  the  soul  from  intrepidly 
following  the  path  of  the  Way  of  Peace.  Reason 
in  the  subjective  realm  is  ponderous.    When  the  soul 


272  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

has  reached  the  plane  of  inspiration,  the  activity  of 
treason  is  unnecessary,  for  truth  comes  as  the  dawn 
of  the  spiritual  day  scattering  the  night  of  ignorance, 
of  doubt,  and  of  spiritual  hesitations.  Reason  moves 
by  laborious  processes.  It  traces  the  far-fetched  idea 
and  travels  the  circuitous  path.  It  lingers  and 
pauses,  progresses  and  recedes,  confirms  and  denies. 
Faith  is  the  supreme  virtue  which  has  been  infused 
into  our  soul  by  the  Spirit  within.  Through  faith 
we  are  omnipotent.  Faith  levels  barriers,  removes 
difficulties,  reaches  truth  by  positive  apprehension 
through  awakened  consciousness.  "Thy  faith  has 
made  thee  whole,"  is  true,  not  alone  in  a  sense  relig- 
ious, but  also  in  a  sense  eminently  psychological.  It 
affects  the  psychical  clement  of  human  nature,  infus- 
ing into  it  the  knowledge  of  ability,  the  spirit  of 
direction,  force  and  enthusiasm.  In  turn,  the  psy- 
chical element,  affecting  the  body,  empowers  it  with 
new  and  hitherto  unrealized  physical  power  and  con- 
trol. By  faith  our  civilization  has  been  made  whole. 
By  faith  has  this  entire  network  of  mental  evolution 
been  brought  about,  for  faith  enlivens  the  mental  per- 
ception. It  stimulates  and  vivifies  the  psychical  in- 
sight which  is  so  often  confused  with  mere  ratiocina- 
tion. It  is  the  revealer  of  the  unknown,  affecting  the 
mind  in  such  a  manner  that  the  latter  is  directly 
related  to  the  knowledge  in  process  of  unfoldment. 
The  truth  of  development  is  the  truth  which  faith 
materializes,  the  truth  which  it  brings  into  existence 
through  focalizing  the  concentrative  faculties  of  man. 
Faith  arouses  expectancy  and  expectancy  insures  the 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  273 

birth  of  the  things,  the  qualities,  the  substances  be- 
lieved in  and  hoped  for.  Faith  is  the  torch-bearer  in 
the  procession  which  men  have  been  making  through 
the  interminable  shadows  of  the  unknown  ever  since 
the  dawn  of  the  rational  instinct.  This  faith  is  self- 
fortified.  It  is  not  a  delusion.  It  is  not  a  snare. 
It  has  its  foundation  in  the  imperishable  basis  of 
known  truths  and  values.  It  does  not  labor  in  the 
mists  of  dogma  or  superstition.  It  is  the  co-partner 
of  fact,  of  truth,  of  reality.  As  our  emotions  are 
ruled  by  the  ideas  which  arouse  them,  so  the  mind 
is  encouraged  in  its  course  by  the  inherent  belief  in 
the  possibility  of  the  soul's  discovering  the  thing 
sought  or  yearned  for.  Faith  is  the  sum-total  of  the 
birthright  of  the  soul.  All  other  qualities  and  dis- 
tinctions, all  other  privileges  and  opportunities  to 
which  the  soul  is  heir,  are  synthetically  related  to 
faith.  Faith  is  the  finite  reflection  of  the  complete 
consciousness  of  omniscience  and  omnipotence.  It  is 
the  superconscious  apprehension  by  the  soul  of  its 
activity,  its  absoluteness  and  perfection.  That  is 
why  faith  is  subjective.  No  matter  how  much  we 
attain,  no  matter  how  far  we  have  trodden  the  Path, 
the  forward  steps  are  guided  by  the  intuitions  of 
faith,  by  the  solace  and  the  encouragement  which 
faith  inspires.  Faith  is  the  expression  of  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Spirit  within  the  soul  of  the  soul;  it  is 
the  tender  whispering  of  the  all-embracing  love  that 
guides  the  weary  traveller  through  the  course  of  re- 
peated births.  There  are  few  who  can  sit  at  the  feet 
of  the  Masters.     How  then  can  we  come  into  direct 


274  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

touch  with  the  truth,  apart  from  the  reading  of 
books  ?  "He  will  certainly  teach  me,  He  within  the 
heart."  Directing  our  desires  and  our  mental  en- 
deavors, through  the  avenue  of  faith,  to  the  Ideal  we 
become  devotees,  the  children  of  the  Ideal  and,  even 
as  the  father  provides  for  the  material  support  of  his 
children,  the  Ideal  will  provide  for  the  spiritual 
growth  of  the  soul.  We  shall  be  guided  and  guarded 
so  long  as  we  stand  in  sincere  relationship  to  Self, 
so  long  as  we  possess  the  faith  which  trusts  and 
the  love  which  leads.  He  who  perceives  and  knows 
is  the  childlike  soul,  the  confident,  believing  and 
aspiring  soul.  May  He  Who  has  assumed  all  names 
and  forms,  He  Who  has  arisen  from  the  True 
and  the  Immortal,  increase  in  us  that  faith  divine 
which  enlarges  the  soul  to  higher  proportions  of 
knowledge,  character  and  spiritual  unfoldment !  May 
the  Perfect  Ones,  They  Who  have  realized  Truth, 
help  us  in  our  efforts!  May  They  impart  unto  us 
Their  faith  transcendent  and  all-saving! 

The  ocean  is  ever  the  ocean  although  its  surface, 
moved  by  the  winds  of  God,  is  multiple  with  waves. 
The  waves  have  existence  only  through  name  and 
form.  The  word  "wave"  and  its  "form"  are  the 
constituent  elements  of  the  phenomena.  The  reality 
of  the  waves  is  the  water  of  the  ocean.  The  winds 
cease  their  riot,  and  the  waves  are  no  longer.  They 
return  into  indistinguishableness.  They  are  one 
with  the  ocean.  The  birthright  of  the  soul  tends 
to  such  an  ultimate  end.  The  disturbed  surface  of 
the  ocean  of  infinite  existence,  infinite  knowledge  and 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  U75 

bliss  gives  life  and  form  to  the  numberless  myriads 
of  finite  lives.  Through  this  disturbance  arises  the 
phenomenal  universe.  The  lashing  of  the  winds  of 
ignorance  and  desire  aggravates  this  variety  of  form 
and  surface  existence.  But  ever  in  the  depths,  uncon- 
taminated  and  self-centered  in  absolute  peace,  resides 
the  Central  Life.  Whosoever  remembers  the  depths 
beneath,  whosoever  awakens  to  the  Voice  of  the  Si- 
lence, whosoever  dives  deep  beneath  the  surface  ad- 
vances with  might  and  main.  Such  a  soul  is  un- 
shaken by  the  winds  of  finite  existence.  Like  the 
mighty  oak  in  the  forest,  such  a  soul  is  unbent  and 
unbroken  though  the  storm  rages  fiercest.  The  minds 
of  the  many  are  discordant.  Therefore  the  surface  is 
filled  with  loudness  of  sound.  Thesefore  the  cries  of 
ambition,  of  manifold  desire,  of  birth  and  death,  of 
pain  and  pleasure,  of  sorrow  and  joy,  of  knowledge 
and  of  ignorance,  are  heard. 

Birthright  is  only  an  opportunity.  It  is  an  in- 
heritance complex  in  possibilities.  Having  great 
faith  and  exercising  great  self-control  we  reach  the 
fulfilment  of  the  promises  that  birthright  involves. 
The  divine  heritage  rises  from  the  appreciation  of 
outer  facts  and  circumstances.  Its  supreme  glory 
comes  when  we  know  that  the  outer  is  but  the  conden- 
sation of  the  inner.  Men  are  ignorant  so  long  as 
they  identify  their  birthright  with  the  aggrandize- 
ment of  what  they  possess.  Wisdom  and  bliss  find 
their  abiding  place  in  the  soul,  when  its  ambitions 
center  in  the  desire  "to  become."  Becoming  is  the 
process  of  evolution.     Realizing  more  of  the  inner 


276  The  Birthright  of  the  Soul. 

glory,  appreciating  to  a  greater  and  greater  ex- 
tent the  reality  within  our  nature,  that,  indeed,  is 
the  happiness  in  life.  Experience  is  the  mother  of 
growth.  Even  a  retrogressive  experience  has  value, 
if  only  to  confirm  the  soul  in  the  Noble  Path  by  in- 
flicting the  punishment  of  the  Law.  There  is  a 
wide  latitude  of  distinction,  however,  in  the  idea  of 
"becoming."  This  constant  evolution  is  not  everlast- 
ing. Spiral  is  the  ascent,  but  the  complete  figure  is 
a  circle.  From  a  given  point  the  soul  commenced  its 
pilgrimage  through  finite  existence.  To  that  given 
point  must  it  return,  with  this  difference,  that  in 
completing  the  circle  the  original  point  must  be 
passed.  All  this  external  growth  is  but  the  reflection 
of  the  growth  of  the  soul  in  its  more  and  more  com- 
plete understanding  of  the  nature  of  Self.  The  soul 
is,  always  has  been,  and  ever  will  be  free  and  unspot- 
ted. The  veil  of  ignorance  obscures  the  vision,  but 
the  soul  is  ever  unraveling  this  illusion.  Evolution 
is  the  path  by  which  the  soul  realizes  that  it  is  neither 
this  nor  that,  that  it  has  no  relation  to  the  past  only 
as  the  Karma  of  the  past  bears  progressive  attitudes 
to  the  present  and  future.  This  non-identification 
with  nature  or  nature's  law,  is  the  central  signifi- 
cance of  the  soul's  birthright.  Our  birthright  is  the 
investiture  of  all  the  exceptional  points  in  the  past 
which  have  made  for  present  unfoldment.  Therefore 
the  development  of  these  faculties  and  powers  with 
which  our  birthright  has  provided  us  is  a  shifting 
to  higher  points  of  possibility.  The  soul  cannot 
"become";     it    is    already    all    in    all,    already   the 


The  Birthright  of  the  Soul.  277 

quintessence  of  divinity.  When  we  say  we  are  con- 
stantly "becoming"  we  mean  that  we  are  constantly 
progressing  in  our  conception  of  Self.  We  are  what 
we  think  and  declare  ourselves  to  be.  From  identify- 
ing ourselves  with  lower  forms  and  personalities  we 
ascend  towards  higher  and  higher  conceptions  of 
the  Divine  within,  until  at  last  we  discard  the  ex- 
ternal and  proclaim  the  internal,  thus  realizing  that 
immortal  Self  '"through  Whom  and  by  Whom  all  lives 
are."  The  heritage  and  birthright  of  the  soul  is 
Eternal  Existence,  Knowledge  and  Bliss. 


THE  VISIBLE  AND  THE  INVISIBLE. 


CHAPTER   XL 

THE    VISIBLE    AND    THE    INVISIBLE. 

Beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules,  the  modern  Straits 
of  Gibraltar,  stretch  the  vast  watery  wastes  of  the  At- 
lantic. To  the  ancients  these  wastes  were  unknown. 
They  dreamed  of  what  lay  beyond  and  sometimes 
their  dreams  were  laden  with  the  fragrance  and  soft- 
ness of  Paradise  and  sometimes  with  the  terrors  and 
dread  of  Hell.  In  spite  of  the  current  superstitions, 
however,  there  were  many  valiant  navigators  who 
dared  sail  beyond  the  Pillars  into  the  Great  Sea. 
Frequently  they  returned  with  tales  of  strange  lands 
and  strangest  peoples.  We  of  the  twentieth  century 
also  have  our  Pillars  of  Hercules.  They  have  at  all 
times  been  extant  and  formidable,  but,  particularly 
in  this  day,  their  formidableness  has  been  softened 
and  many  navigators  are  sailing  Beyond.  These 
Pillars,  causing  as  much  interest  and  representing  far 
more  than  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  of  antiquity,  are 
the  Pillars  of  Hercules  of  the  mind.  We  have  stum- 
bled on  many  truths  of  transcendent  import,  truths 
which  are  rather  surmised  than  scientifically  cognized. 
We  are  in  the  shadow  of  the  vastness  of  Truth.  From 
the  downfall  of  imperial  Rome  and  the  oblivion  of 
the  Greek  Philosophies  and  Mysteries  the  centuries 
have  revealed  little  in  the  way  of  vital  truth.     We 


282  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

have  had  thinkers,  such  as  Thomas  de  Aquinas,  Al- 
quin,  Ei'igena  and  Abelard,  dispensers  of  philosoph- 
ical truth.  We  have  had  alchemists,  the  forerunners 
of  modern  chemists,  revealing  many  a  truth,  origin- 
ally of  occult  description,  now  serving  in  the  depart- 
ments of  medicine  and  chemistry.  But  the  great  were 
the  few,  and  the  masses,  benighted  in  mind  and  soul, 
were  given  little  truth  and  much  superstition.  There 
is  the  dawn  of  an  ominous  Renaissance,  not  literary 
or  artistic,  but  a  Renaissance  of  the  racial  soul.  The 
great  line  of  demarcation  between  the  old  and  the 
new  began  when  Columbus  discovered  America.  This 
discovery  of  a  new  continent  was  the  evolutionary 
impulse,  defining  radical  reform  and  invention. 
There  was  a  revival  in  every  phase  of  human  activity, 
from  the  aesthetic  and  the  artistic  to  the  mechanical. 

We  have  sailed  beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules.  We 
have  come  into  intimate  contact  with  the  Unknown. 
Beyond  the  limitations  of  known  quantities  we  have 
heard  the  whisperings  of  novel  truth.  We  have  heard 
the  accents  of  pregnant  facts.  Great  thinkers  have 
concentrated,  and  these  whisperings  and  accents  have 
resolved  themselves  into  the  latest  branches  of 
science.  It  is  never  too  late  to  learn.  True  is  this 
of  the  individual,  and  as  certain  of  the  race  as 
a  whole.  The  cosmic  urge  expresses  itself  in  the 
inherent  impulse  of  the  soul  to  reach  beyond 
present  knowledge.  We  have  seen  the  risen  and 
conversed  with  the  dead.  We  have  come  to  the  bor- 
derland of  another  world.  As  America  ever  existed, 
though   its   discovery   from   an   historic   point   is   a 


The  Visible  and  the  Invisible.  283 

comparatively  recent  event,  so  a  great  psycho-spiritual 
world  has  ever  existed  at  the  threshold  of  conscious- 
ness, unobserved  and  unknown.  Psychology  measures 
thought  and  emotion.  Scientists  balance  the  weight 
of  desire  and  are  intimately  acquainted  with  the  reac- 
tions between  the  mental  and  physical.  It  is  no  longer 
the  mental  and  the  physical.  They  have  coined  a 
new  word  to  designate  the  more  complete  conception 
of  personality  and  of  the  human  constitution,  the 
word  "psychic."  The  word  is  used  in  connection  with 
the  existence  and  surface  description  of  this  new 
world.  "Is  it  Spiritualism  to  which  you  refer  ?"  asks 
the  reader.  It  is  not.  Spiritualism  is  only  a  new  form 
of  expressing  facts  as  old  as  the  First  Death.  "There 
is  nothing  new  under  the  sun,"  said  the  ancients. 
Schiller  tells  us :  "There  is  not  a  thought  which  has  not 
been  thought  out  long,  long  ago."  Spiritualism  has 
startled  both  the  orthodoxy  of  ecclesiasticism  and  sci- 
entific dogmaticism.  We  cannot  waive  it  aside  with 
a  negative  shrug.  If  truth  abides  with  it  we  might 
as  well  attempt  to  remove  the  Himalayas. 

Spiritualism  and  the  world  it  suggests  to  conscious- 
ness, however,  is  not  the  spiritualism  of  table-mov- 
ings, rappings,  dollar-down  mediums  and  stupid  the- 
ories. It  is  not  the  spiritualism  that  identifies  itself 
with  rarefied  materialism.  It  is  not  the  spiritualism 
that  listens  to  haphazard  prophecies  and  tell-tale 
stories  of  the  departed.  That  is  only  a  higher  necro- 
mancy. Spiritualism  does  not  mean  running  after 
dead  friends  and  relatives.  Accustomed  to  them 
in  spirit,  men  would  treat  them  just  as  shabbily  as 


284  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

they  were  wont  during  their  earth-life.  How  strange 
that  the  greatest  of  miracles  can  become  commonplace ! 
How  strange  that  curiosity  is  so  painfully  confused 
with  sincerity !  Men  are  bewitched  by  the  new.  The 
sun,  the  moon,  the  constellations  are  no  miracles.  We 
title  the  rapping  on  a  table  or  a  door  something  "pass- 
ing strange."  Bottom-rock  sense  is  needed.  We  need 
what  the  farmer  told  his  university -graduated  son: 
"What  you  need  is  common  horse-sense."  Let  us  get 
away  from  the  tawdriness  of  curiosity.  We  should 
face  truth  in  a  becoming  fashion. 

Religion  and  truth  are  not  matters  of  temperament 
or  curious  inquiry.  If  there  be  truth  in  the  heart  of 
spiritualism  it  is  our  place  to  find  it.  Above  all  it 
is  a  moral  duty  so  to  adjust  our  lives  to  the  newly 
found  phrases  of  truth  that  our  characters  inter- 
pret in  conscious  reality  what  is  held  as  truth. 
We  can  best  be  loyal  to  belief  in  its  practice.  This 
is  the  only  serious  fault  to  be  found  with  spirit- 
ualism. Its  adherents  are  not  strictly  religious.  The 
creed  is,  relatively  speaking,  inferior  to  orthodox  re- 
ligion. If  men  believe  in  the  vital  significance  of 
spiritualism,  let  them  once  and  for  all  so  relate  them- 
selves to  its  assertions  that  their  outward  conduct  ex- 
presses their  inner  faith.  The  value  of  a  cult  is  its 
attitude  to  spirituality.  "Does  it  lead  Godward? 
Does  it  conduce  to  Self-knowledge?  Does  it  lead  to 
control  and  the  amelioration  of  conduct  I" 

There  is  an  aspect  of  spiritualism,  however,  which 
is  in  keeping  with  the  significance  of  Self-knowledge 
and  spiritual  control.    Every  soul  of  religious  aspira- 


The  Visible  and  the  Invisible.  285 

tion  appreciates  the  beauty  of  that  spiritualism  which 
develops  the  spiritual  faculties  and  places  the  individ- 
ual in  direct  communication  with  higher  intelligence 
and  helpfulness.  The  facts  in  spiritualism  are  spir- 
itual facts  by  which  the  soul,  coming  into  relation 
with  deeper  realities,  is  brought  face  to  face  with  the 
imperative  necessity  of  self -development  and  unfold- 
ment ;  face  to  face,  also,  with  those  whose  experience 
on  the  psychic  planes  of  life  render  them  capable  of 
assisting  the  soul.  This  is  the  truth  of  spiritualism. 
What,  after  all,  are  our  departed  friends  to  us ;  what, 
after  all,  our  relations  ?  The  spirit  of  all  friendship 
and  of  all  love  is  the  spirit  of  development.  !No  one 
is  a  relative  or  a  friend  who  is  consciously  or  uncon- 
sciously inimical  to  the  growth  of  mind,  heart  or  soul. 
Friends  and  relations  are  given  to  us  because  of  cer- 
tain needs  in  our  nature  to  which  they  respond.  Mere 
sentiment  dies  quickly.  It  cannot  brook  misfortune. 
It  is  shattered  at  the  first  unevenness  of  disposition  or 
circumstance,  but  true  friendship  and  true  love  out- 
live the  tides  and  turns  of  life.  The  individual,  striv- 
ing for  the  Ideal,  should  consider  the  circumstances 
of  finite  life  as  birth  and  death,  friends  and  foes, 
weal  and  woe  as  so  many  forms  through  which  the 
soul  is  led  into  a  superior  conception  of  the  Ideal. 
This  gives  a  higher  appreciation  of  our  relatives  and 
friends,  a  greater  consolation  in  the  hour  of  trial  and 
a  greater  joy  in  the  hour  of  good  fortune.  When  one 
whom  we  love  has  passed  from  our  conscious  vision, 
there  should  be  a  deeper  motive  than  curiosity 
arousing  the  effort  to  penetrate  the  veil  and  com- 


286  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

mime  with  the  departed.  Real  sorrow  manifests 
when  we  realize  that  with  the  death  of  a  friend 
a  part  of  ourselves  has  departed.  It  manifests  in  the 
feeling  that  an  inspiration  and  an  incentive  for  un- 
foldment  has  been  removed.  "We  are  members  of  the 
Ideal.  We  are  in  communion  with  the  departed  in 
devotion  to  the  Ideal  which  they  cherished  and  prac- 
ticed. There  is  no  death  when  we  remember  the 
Ideal.  The  spiritual  essence  exists  though  the  mortal 
may  neither  see  nor  hear.  At  times  the  soul,  quickened 
beyond  its  normal  sensitiveness,  appreciates  its  im- 
mortality, communes  with  the  beloved  and  realizes 
that  ever  is  love  deeper  than  death  and  that  the  Ideal 
which  blends  souls  in  mutual  love  is  deeper  than  the 
grave.  A  true  conception  of  immortality  rests  in  the 
sameness  of  spiritual  identity  and  unity  where  "All 
is  One."  Men  lead  a  surface  life  and  it  is  that  life 
they  wish  immortalized.  Such  immortality  would 
mean  stagnation  of  soul.  As  the  homely  caterpillar 
dies  to  its  present  condition  and  arises  in  the  form  of 
the  light-winged,  beautiful  butterfly,  so  we  must  die 
to  our  present  conditions  in  order  that  we.  may  be  born 
anew  with  better  opportunities  and  advantages.  We 
must  remain  in  the  chrysalis  state,  the  subjective  state 
between  death  and  renewed  life  so  as  properly  to  as- 
similate the  past  into  tendencies  for  a  more  beautiful 
life  to  come.  Appearance  deceives.  Dead  the  body 
lies,  cold,  bloodless  and  inert.  We  speak  of  the  per- 
son as  dead  when  we  mean  the  body  through  which 
the  person  manifested.  The  soul  is  so  closely  identi- 
fied with  the  body  that  more  reality  is  credited  to  the 


The  Visible  aiicl  the  Invisible.  2    7 

body  than  to  the  ego  within.  Steadfastly  gazing  to- 
ward the  external,  the  mind  fails  to  realize  the  inter- 
nal. Men  deal  with  shadows  and  forget  the  substance 
which  gives  life  to  shadows.  They  are  dealing  with 
forms  and  neglecting  the  life  and  the  spirit  of  forms. 
Such  is  the  inverted  order  of  ignorance,  such  the  su- 
perstition of  illusion.  The  learned  Swami  Viveka- 
nanda  said:  "The  root  of  evil  is  the  illusion  that  we 
are  bodies.  This,  if  any,  is  the  original  sin."  The 
density  of  soul  to  which  men  are  liable  is  this 
body  superstition.  Their  desires  concern  the  advan- 
tages of  the  body.  Little  do  they  appreciate  the  supe- 
riority of  the  mental,  psychical  and  spiritual  princi- 
ples constituting  their  nature.  The  first  step  towards 
the  goal  of  knowledge  is  to  gain  freedom  from  this 
superstition,  for  it  stands  in  the  way  of  all  other  reve- 
lation. So  long  as  we  are  governed  by  this  false  atti- 
tude, so  long  is  our  creed  a  farce  and  our  spiritual 
conception  meaningless.  Immortality  is  not  to  be 
desired  for  the  perpetuity  of  personality.  Change  is 
the  nature  of  personality ;  fluctuation  from  lower  to 
higher  and  from  higher  to  lower  points  of  understand- 
ing and  conduct  is  the  activity  of  personality.  How 
can  that  be  immortal  which  shifts  and  changes  ?  The 
soul  is  the  individual  and  assumes  all  these  chang- 
ing personalities  to  educate  itself  into  understanding 
and  realization  of  Spirit.  Birth  is  only  an  experi- 
ence. Death  is  no  more  meaningful  than  birth.  The 
personality  is  tributary  to  both.  All  have  lived  many 
times  and  many  times  all  have  died.  The  soul  takes 
on  many  bodies,  even  as  the  body  puts  on  various  gar- 


288  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

mcnts.  Constant  is  the  change.  This  ceaseless  rush 
is  mothered  by  desire.  Qniet  desire,  and  the  surface 
of  the  ocean  of  soul  becomes  smooth.  The  Spirit  is 
the  Ideal.  The  relation  of  the  soul  to  the  Ideal  deter- 
mines its  relation  to  other  beings.  Those  who  cherish 
the  same  aspects  of  the  Ideal  are  therein  vitally  con- 
nected. They  are  Karmic  relations,  and  these  rela- 
tions are  deeper  than  the  ties  of  blood.  Never  does 
one  who  is  conscious  of  the  ideal  relations  between 
himself  and  his  friends  doubt  their  at-onement  with 
himself,  though  death  may  have  swallowed  up  the 
visible  form.  It  is  hard  to  understand  this  from  a 
practical  viewpoint.  The  spiritual  consciousness 
alone  appreciates.  The  visible  is  our  limitation.  Be- 
yond the  visible  is  the  world  of  the  invisible.  There 
reside  the  departed.  There  the  sustaining  elements 
of  this  physical  expression  exist.  Xormal  conscious- 
ness cognizes  the  invisible  when  it  is  related  to  higher 
aspects  of  truth.  Then  it  becomes  conscious  of  super- 
sensuous  existence.  The  invisible  is  composed  of 
rarer  states  of  matter  and  finer  motions  of  force.  Ex- 
quisitive  sensitiveness  and  sensibilities  prevail.  The 
invisible  is  the  realm  of  ideas,  of  inspiration,  of  intu- 
ition, of  imagination,  the  realm  of  the  principle  of 
things,  the  realm  of  "Eidolons."  To  exalt  the  belief 
in  the  invisible  to  the  realm  of  conscious  perception 
should  be  the  individual  aim,  not  for  any  reason,  how- 
ever, other  than  to  come  into  communication  with 
higher  ideals  and  their  more  lucid  interpretation.  The 
cry  of  the  sages  is  the  cry  to  get  beyond  this  normal 
sense  area.    Men  never  believe  unless  they  are  ration- 


The  Visible  and  the  Invisible.  280 

ally  convinced  of  the  existence  of  the  truths  to  which 
they  give  their  faith.  How  can  we  ever  know 
unless  we  consciously  perceive  and  consciously  know ! 
Therefore,  we  should  follow  those  rules  of  mind  and 
body  prescribed  for  the  perfeet  unfoldment  of  con- 
sciousness from  this  to  higher  realms.  These  rules 
have  much  to  do  with  the  body.  They  imply  the  puri- 
fication of  the  body  of  "dark  qualities."  These  dark 
qualities  are  heaviness,  coarseness,  insensibility  to 
fine  vibrations  and  contamination.  These  rules  im- 
ply the  development  of  the  respiratory  and  nerve 
systems.  They  imply  full  control  of  the  body,  for 
only  in  this  way  can  the  body  become  the  veritable 
habitation  of  Spirit.  Some  of  these  rules  demand 
much  in  the  form  of  ascetic  practices.  The  average 
practice  is  for  those  who  do  not  wish  to  advance  far. 
Ascetic  practices  are  for  those  urged  by  a  burning  de- 
sire to  get  beyond  the  barriers  of  normal  sense  con- 
sciousness. Certain  dietetic  methods  produce  perfect 
balance  of  the  physical  motions  in  the  body  and  exqui- 
site sensitiveness  to  slightest  vibrations.  They  pro- 
duce brilliancy  of  the  mental  faculties  and  liberate 
the  psychic  element.  If  one  lives  for  any  length  of 
time  solely  on  a  cereal  diet,  his  body  will  be  in  such 
rarefied  a  state  and  the  sense  organs  so  psychiatrized 
that  he  can  read  the  thoughts  of  others  and  hear  dis- 
tant voices  and  so  forth.  But  these  are  only  provable 
in  the  practice.  If  they  are  merely  regarded  as 
statements  they  only  count  for  so  much.  One  ounce 
of  practice  is  worth  more  than  the  reading  of 
tomes  upon  the  subject.    This  delicate  adjustment  of 


200  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

the  human  body  to  superscnsuous  vibrations  is  the 
primary  end  of  psychic  development.  It  is  the  first 
stage  in  the  great  work  of  the  soul  to  liberate  itself 
from  the  thraldom  of  matter.  The  invisible  lies  at 
the  threshold  of  our  normal  consciousness.  That  we 
do  not  go  beyond  the  normal  border,  that  we  do  not 
lift  the  veil  that  obstructs  the  view  of  things  psychic 
and  of  the  psychic  plane  at  large,  is  surely  our 
fault.  It  is  our 'fault  because  we  do  not  wish  to  pro- 
gress further.  With  the  majority  there  has  been  no 
thought  of  these  things,  but  nowadays  the  flood  of 
psychic  truth  has  spread  until  it  has  encompassed  the 
world.  Many  are  placing  or  attempting  to  place  them- 
selves in  union  with  things  beyond  immediate  sense 
grasp,  but  this  is  not  the  final  goal  of  psychic  control. 
As  inferred  in  the  chapters  preceding,  the  final  aim  of 
nature  is  to  make  us  realize  the  Divinity  within  the 
soul  and  to  make  us  realize  the  unity  of  life  and  its 
sacredness  in  every  form.  We  are  upon  a  certain 
altitude  in  this  universe  and  survey  everything  be- 
neath as  inferior.  We  do  not  think  of  the  superior. 
Therefore  we  exalt  ourselves  as  primary  in  the  uni- 
verse and  regard  mankind  as  the  climax  of  natural 
evolution.  But  beyond  and  encircling  the  terrestrial 
sphere  on  every  side  are  planes  of  consciousness  and 
intelligence  compared  with  which  the  earth  is  prim- 
itively developed.  There  are  beings  so  incomparably 
exalted  beyond  human  conception  that,  in  the  compari- 
son, men  are  as  infinitesimal  insects  to  exalted  human 
beings.  Why,  then,  do  we  fall  prey  to  pride!  It  is 
in  the  humbleness  of  heart  that  we  are  taught ;  other 


The  Visible  and  the  Invisible.  291 

wise  painful  experience  is  our  teacher.  Becoming 
sensitive  to  planes  of  rarer  atmosphere  means  putting 
ourselves  into  communication  with  the  beings  who 
inhabit  them. 

In  this  communication  is  embodied  the  beauty  and 
the  essence  of  spiritualism.  This  is  the  higher-typed 
spiritualism  which  has  the  highest  of  ideals,  the  ideal 
of  self-perfection  and  Self-knowledge  as  its  motive  for 
effort  and  inquiry.  In  this  communication  the  soul  is 
helped.  Every  effort  at  self-amelioration  is  answered 
in  the  form  of  assistance  and  strength  from  the  invis- 
ible. We  are  never  alone.  This  sentence  is  frequently 
heard  in  spiritualistic  circles  where  honesty,  science 
and  reason  are  brought  to  bear.  But  the  mind  must 
grow  apart  from  the  phenomena.  The  physical  phe- 
nomena of  spiritualism  are  rudimentary  forms  of 
communication.  They  are  for  those  who  demand  that 
form.  Generally  speaking,  there  are  few  instances 
when  spirits  of  the  higher  planes  manifest  in  this 
fashion.  Those  of  the  higher  realms  of  life  con- 
sider the  highest  form  of  communication  the  direct 
form  in  which  the  individual  is  directly  sensitive 
to  inspiration  and  intuition.  This  is  far  superior  to 
the  ordinary  methods  of  communication.  It  is  better 
for  us  to  reach  to  the  planes  above  than  to  have  beings 
of  superior  planes  reach  down  to  us.  In  the  latter 
case  the  manifestation  is  accomplished  with  great  diffi- 
culty. Then,  when  we  ourselves  are  awakened  to 
direct  communication,  we  are  no  longer  in  doubt.  We 
know  the  value  of  the  communication  and  discern  its 
source.     In  physical  communication  it  is  difficult  to 


292  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

discern  the  source.  So  often  do  vibrations  cross  and 
so  often  do  spirits  of  lower  planes  intercept  and  mis- 
represent. When  the  soul  has  attained  to  psychic 
sensitiveness  it  can  personally  discriminate.  By  com- 
ing into  direct  association  we  become  identified  in  a 
personal  sense  with  those  who  have  long  sought  to 
establish  in  our  souls  the  necessity  of  self-evolution 
to  the  point  of  direct  communication.  We  become 
the  children  of  these  exalted  beings  and  partakers  of 
their  bliss  and  spirituality.  This  is  the  vital  meaning 
of  spiritualism  which  gives  it  prestige,  dignity  and 
rational  sanction.  Nothing  can  rise  as  a  barrier  to  the 
aspiration  of  the  soul,  once  it  is  determined  to  rise 
beyond  its  present  level.  All  the  forces  of  the  uni- 
verse are  allied  with  it.  All  help  necessary  is  freely 
given.  Just  as  we  are  never  tested  beyond  our  strength 
so  we  are  guarded  and  guided  when  wc  are  not  on 
trial.  It  is  when  things  flow  cheerfully  that  the  great- 
est danger  is  imminent.  In  trouble  we  gladly  seek 
assistance  from  the  realms  beyond.  We  remember 
our  spiritual  Self  and  take  refuge  in  it,  but  when 
everything  is  peaceful  and  free  we  are  liable  to  let 
go  the  reins,  liable  to  forget  the  existence  of  those 
whom  we  say  we  love,  those  who  are  in  union  with  the 
vibration  of  our  cherished  ideals.  The  invisible 
helpers  are  ever  at  the  call  of  the  soul  and  surround 
it  with  equal  protection  in  the  day  of  fortune  and  of 
misfortune. 

The  fruitage  of  spiritualistic  belief  is  its  value  in 
changing  the  viewpoint  of  mind  and  heart.  Con- 
vinced of  immortality,  convinced  that  the  body  is  a 


The  Visible  and  the  Invisible.  29,3 

myth  and  that  this  world  is  but  an  infinitesimal  frac- 
tion of  the  entire  universe,  that  planes  succeed  planes 
in  endless  circulation,  the  soul  becomes  conscious 
of  the  immensity  of  things.  Yet  the  vastness  and 
depth  is  as  naught  in  comparison  with  the  soul  itself. 
The  greatest  masses  of  matter  in  time  return  to  their 
gaseous  beginnings.  Everything  perishes.  Compared 
with  eternity,  the  duration  of  the  existence  of  greatest 
suns  is  but  a  flash.  Where  is  immensity?  In  the 
soul  which  outlives  all  phenomenal  immensity,  which 
antedates  the  dawn  of  the  universal  day,  which  is  one 
with  Infinity.  If  the  soul  reflects  upon  its  ever- 
lastingness,  it  feels  that  it  is  one  with  the  Great 
Cause,  one  with  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega  of 
Being.  The  greatest  question  does  not  conern  this 
universe,  but  the  individual  soul.  Who  are  we  who 
ask  this  question?  Within  the  abyss  of  our  souls  is 
the  answer.  The  universe  and  its  cause  is  Self,  the 
Self  to  be  found  everywhere,  resident  in  all  beings, 
the  creator,  preserver  and  destroyer  of  the  universe. 
It  is  the  Self-projection  of  the  Highest  Self.  He  who 
has  realized  truth  sees  Self.  For  him  this  uni- 
verse has  faded.  Such  is  the  teaching  those  from  the 
other  side  give.  But  there  are  equally  great  teachers 
on  this  plane.  We  must  receive  truth  from  every 
source  and  remember  that  personality  is  only  a  me- 
dium for  the  dispensation  of  truth.  Therefore,  in 
communication  with  beings  on  higher  planes  we  must 
adapt  ourselves  to  the  wisdom  of  the  communication. 
In  speaking  of  spiritual  communication  a  teacher 
has  said :  "If  you  are  introduced  to  a  strange  person 


2!U  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

you  would  not  immediately  ask  him  concerning  his 
birth,  his  connections  and  his  antecedents.  People 
forget  common  courtesy  in  their  relationship  with  the 
departed.  If  a  spirit  comes  to  them  the  first  thing 
they  say  is :  'How  long  have  you  been  dead  ?  What 
was  your  earth  name  ?  On  what  sphere  do  you  exist  ? 
What  do  you  do  in  your  new  expression  V  "  All  these 
questions  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  spiritual  wis- 
dom which  those  who  come  impart.  We  have  the  duty 
to  listen  and  heed.  Spiritual  beings  have  as  much 
courtesy  and  dignity  as  we  would  wish  ourselves  to 
have.  They  do  not  appear  for  silver  collections,  that 
is,  the  highest,  and  those  who,  in  truth,  assist  and 
guide.  The  coming  of  the  departed  from  their  sep- 
arate realms  is  to  them  a  sacred  mission  and  their 
coming  should  be  regarded  as  sacred.  Our  attitude 
must  change  in  this  respect  if  we  wish  to  become  fully 
benefited  by  the  phenomena.  We  cannot  get  the  best 
results  with  inverted  attitudes. 

ISFature  does  not  reveal  the  new  unless  there  is  need. 
If  the  new  is  revealed  it  is  for  those  who  understand. 
Those  who  do  not  comprehend  are  without  the  experi- 
ence. The  point  of  appreciation  is  for  those  whose 
individual  growth  has  thus  far  developed.  So  in 
spiritualism  those  who  understand  come  into  direct 
communication,  while  those  who  do  not  are  simply 
curious  and  puzzled  by  the  phenomena.  The  sincere 
spiritualist  is  not  a  hunter  after  dead  relatives.  He 
is  a  searcher  after  truth,  after  instruction,  and  if  his 
instruction  is  best  attained  through  immediate  contact 
with  departed  relatives,  he  becomes  conscious  of  their 


The  Visible  and  the  Invisible.  295 

presence  and  their  help.  The  messengers  of  truth  are 
the  messengers  of  Spirit.  Their  subjective  life  is  en- 
grossed in  the  praise  and  the  service  of  Spirit,  and  the 
worthiest  spend  their  ecstasy  in  the  very  vision  of 
Spirit.  We  only  live  on  our  outer  circumference. 
Evolution  is  in  reality  from  within.  From  within 
the  evolutionary  urge  has  developed  the  ideas  and  the 
desires  which  have  elevated  the  amphibian  through 
varied  forms  to  the  human.  From  within  comes 
that  still  higher  evolution  that  makes  us  conscious 
of  deeper  truths,  invisible  and  indiscernible  to  aver- 
age intelligence.  Deeper  and  deeper  are  we  impelled, 
until  at  length  we  become  sensitive  to  the  vibrations 
those  receive  upon  highest  planes. 

In  speaking  of  planes  we  must  not  confine  ourselves 
to  the  idea  of  locality.  That  is  far  from  the  defini- 
tion and  conception  of  planes.  Planes  are  in  the 
mind.  All  is  in  the  mind.  The  external  is  only  the 
symbol  of  the  mental.  Therefore  the  Christian,  con- 
vinced of  the  reality  of  hell  and  its  everlastingness, 
and  dying  with  the  idea  of  mortal  sin  on  the  soul, 
enters  the  condition  to  which  his  mind  has  been 
wrought  through  belief.  He  is  subjected  to  the  exter- 
nalization  of  his  belief.  He  comes  into  a  plane  of 
thought  and  feeling  where  he  feels  that  he  is  eternally 
doomed,  where  he  is  tortured  with  dreadful  visions, 
implanted  during  earth-life  instructions.  When  the 
force  of  this  idea  is  spent,  the  soul  passes  into  uncon- 
sciousness and  rises  to  subjective  planes  where  it 
works  out  the  heavenly  belief  for  the  reward  of  good 
works.     Unconscious  of  its  past,  it  is  wheeled  into 


296  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

earth-life  when  the  force  of  the  heavenly  idea  is  spent. 
It  is  all  in  the  mind.  It  is  all  mental.  We  are  the 
figment-makers  of  our  destiny,  not  alone  here  but 
hereafter.  Those  from  the  other  side  endeavor  to 
make  clear  to  us  that  the  death  state  and  the  state  of 
life  subjective  is  just  what  we  believe  it  to  be.  If  we  be- 
lieve in  the  hell  and  heaven  idea  we  become  so  related. 
Some  may  ask  why  then  does  not  the  state  of  hell 
endure  forever  since  the  idea  implies  this  everlasting- 
ness  ?  Finite  beings  as  we  are  we  can  have  only  finite 
conceptions  of  the  infinite  and  of  eternity.  There- 
fore we  are  bound  by  the  finiteness  of  conception  and 
not  by  the  infinity  which  our  idea  suggests.  Thus  it 
is  that  persons  are  liberated  from  their  after-death 
states,  when  these  states  consist  of  the  belief  in 
heavens  or  hells  of  theology.  It  is  the  karma  of  the 
individual  that  he  falls  prey  to  these  morbid  concep- 
tions. It  designates  narrowness  of  soul,  theological 
domination  and  control. 

The  quest  after  the  Infinite  takes  the  soul  beyond 
the  realms  of  the  finite.  It  raises  it  beyond  stationed 
levels.  It  is  the  great  impulse  behind  evolution.  One 
aspect  of  this  quest  is  the  central  principle  of  spirit- 
ualism, the  desire  to  broaden  the  area  of  conscious 
perception.  Outside  conscious  phases  of  experience 
lies  the  vast  mist  of  the  Beyond.  Until  recently  this 
Beyond  was  a  vagueness  and  a  myth,  but  the  onward 
impulse  directs,  and  we  are  now  commencing  to  per- 
ceive the  lineaments  of  this  vagueness.  So  much  de- 
pends upon  the  reality  of  other  worlds  and  other 
planes.     Moral  attitudes  change.     The  conception  of 


The  Visible  and  the  Invisible.  297 

the  universe  changes.  The  vision  of  life  is  broad- 
ened. Knowledge  increases,  for  with  the  evolution  of 
perception  ever  comes  an  intensification  of  the  ra- 
tional faculties.  But  we  shall  never  be  perfectly  sat- 
isfied with  the  mere  perception  of  other  planes.  In 
fact,  it  might  serve  to  increase  selfishness.  Increased 
knowledge  and  consequent  power  might  influence  the 
person  to  utilize  them  to  further  the  wants  of  appe- 
tite. This  is  the  "black  magic"  of  which  we  so  fre- 
quently read.  "Black  magic"  may  be  perpetrated  on 
this  plane  as  well  as  on  others.  Every  selfish  act  is 
"black  magic."  There  is  variation  in  the  degree  of 
this  magic.  Its  methods  are  accentuated  when  con- 
sciously applied.  It  is  good  that  men  are  ignorant  of 
many  things.  There  is  some  danger  that  they  might 
employ  them  for  the  ruin  of  themselves  and  others. 
Right  conduct  and  unselfishness  are  the  guardians 
through  which  all  harm  is  nullified  and  all  danger  set 
aside.  That  is  why  celebrated  spiritual  Masters  have 
summarized  their  religious  teaching  with  the  words: 
"Love  one  another."  In  this  sense  personal  vibra- 
tions can  only  tend  to  the  harmony  of  the  spiritual 
and  occult  elements  of  man's  nature.  Unselfishness 
renders  the  person  harmless,  and  in  this  harmlessness 
it  protects  and  is  protected.  Whatever  wTe  send  forth 
returns  with  multiplied  interest. 

Sustaining  and  impelling  all  occult  inquiry  should 
be  the  impulse  to  reach  beyond  limitations  and  to 
grow  asunder  from  stagnation  and  monotony  of  soul- 
placedness.  This  is  the  inquiry  sanctioned  by  the 
Spirit  within,  the  inquiry  which  is  spiritual  in  es- 


298  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible 

sence  and  spiritual  in  manifestation.  What  is  knowl- 
edge ?  Ever  is  it  limited.  Ever  is  there  the  immedi- 
ately beyond.  Ever  is  there  the  unknown.  Psychic 
perception  does  not  insure  perfection  of  character. 
Acquainted  with  the  orders  of  the  psychic  worlds 
men  would  act  just  as  they  do  in  this  world ;  perhaps 
worse.  Spirituality,  devotion  to  the  respective  Ideal 
which  one  may  entertain  with  regard  to  the  Ultimate, 
purity  of  conduct  and  unselfishness  spiritualize 
knowledge  and  elevate  the  individual  to  nobler 
heights  of  conduct  and  aspiration.  Knowledge  is  of 
value  as  it  relates  itself  to  the  refinement  of  the  feel- 
ings and  to  the  expansion  of  the  heart.  If  the  soul 
realizes  the  occult  as  contained  within  itself,  it  will 
not  emphasize  external  methods  of  attaining  it.  If 
it  realizes  that  the  Spirit  within  comprises  all  life 
and  all  universes,  it  will  be  happy  in  its  devotion 
to  the  Spirit.  We  must  place  our  Ideal  on  the 
altar  of  our  hearts  and  steadfastly  worship  it.  If 
thereby  we  acquire  knowledge  of  the  occult,  if  thereby 
we  are  exalted  to  supersensuous  planes,  coming  into 
the  consciousness  of  psycho-spiritual  realities,  it  is 
well.  Through  the  activity  of  Spirit  is  all  unfold- 
ment.  Through  the  blessings  of  the  Supreme  all  that 
we  are  we  owe  to  the  highest  Self.  Therefore  what 
does  it  matter  if  we  have  or  have  not  advanced  to  the 
point  of  personal  perception  of  superconscious  truth  ? 
Let  us  know  that  as  yet  it  is  not  intended,  but  by  the 
grace  of  the  Supreme,  and  in  His  sacred  wisdom,  the 
time  will  come  when  faith  shall  give  place  to  knowl- 
edge, when  we  shall  see  where  now  we  do  not  see  and 


The  Visible  and  the  Invisible.  299 

hear  where  at  present  we  do  not  hear.  The  Heart 
of  the  universe  is  open  to  the  devotee.  The  Heart  of 
the  universe  calls  unto  the  devotee  and,  in  the  call  and 
in  the  answer,  the  soul  is  awakened  to  transcendent 
truths  and  to  sublime  vision.  The  saints  of  various 
religious  denominations  were  lifted  in  soul  and  in 
consciousness  beyond  the  limitations  of  this  earth 
plane.  In  this  they  were  educated  by  the  Beloved. 
Whosoever  worships  the  Supreme,  by  the  Supreme  is 
led  through  the  many  mirages  of  this  universe.  All 
planes  are  manifested  in  his  desire.  All  knowledge 
and  all  power  is  his  who  turneth  his  heart  in  one- 
pointed  concentration  to  the  Essence  of  all  knowledge 
and  power.  Knowledge  and  power — what,  indeed, 
are  they  ?  Trifles  of  a  larger  description.  They  are 
toys,  snares,  that  separate  the  soul  from  the  vision 
of  the  Supreme  and  the  realization  of  the  Divine 
within.  In  One  do  we  ultimately  perceive  all.  In 
One  do  we  find  the  boundless  source  of  all  loves 
ever  cherished,  of  all  ideals  and  of  all  the  idealized. 
Then  do  we  perceive  that  the  external  is  only  the 
symbol,  that  the  inner  is  real,  that  the  individual 
heart  is  the  shrine  upon  which  all  these  evanescent 
wishes,  ideas  and  ideals  have  been  founded.  Tear 
asunder  the  veil  of  the  heart,  uproot  the  shadows  of 
selfishness,  however  vague  and  slight.  Then  will  the 
Eternal  and  the  Imperishable  be  seen  as  All-Loving 
Tenderness,  Compassion,  All-encompassing  Existence, 
Knowledge  and  Bliss.  So  long  as  we  express  the  per- 
sonal as  the  Individual  so  long  do  we  remain  uncon- 
scious of  the  peace  and  the  ecstasy  of  true  spiritual 


300  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

control  and  Self  -  knowledge,  and  so  long  are  we 
merged  in  the  ocean  of  ignorance.  Selfish  desire  is 
only  too  often  the  motive  for  the  attainment  of  things 
psychic,  and  desire  is  vain.  It  is  not  true,  not  real, 
not  essential.  It  deviates,  deceives  and  desecrates 
the  mind,  leading  it  into  improper  paths  of  ex- 
pression. Even  the  gods  fall  before  the  destruction 
of  desire.  Power  is  not  spirituality,  not  blessedness. 
The  greatest  knowledge  is  not  blessedness.  All  these 
are  steps  on  the  Path,  but  the  goal  is  far,  far  beyond. 
The  goal  is  the  Infinite.  Manifested  power  and 
knowledge  are  relative,  finite  and  bound.  Knowl- 
edge and  power  come  with  the  disturbance  of 
spiritual  equilibrium.  We  must  not  confuse  outer 
knowledge  with  Divinity.  Attainable  knowledge  is 
relative,  but  Infinite  is  the  Essence  of  the  attainable. 
What  that  Infinite  is  we  cannot  know.  It  is  the 
Highest  Self.  "Thou  art  That."  But  to  understand 
this  expression  we  must  first  do  away  with  this  rela- 
tive, personal,  shifting,  changing  self,  composed  of 
the  qualities  of  mind  and  matter,  born  in  time,  hab- 
itant in  space,  subject  to  laws,  bound,  merged  in  the 
sea  of  the  phenomenal.  Even  as  the  Self  must  be 
thought  of  as  vitally  different  from  what  is  generally 
considered  as  Self,  so  must  we  differentiate  Infinite 
Knowledge  from  what  wre  understand  as  knowledge. 
This  higher  spiritualism  enshrined  in  the  truly 
divine  aspiration  is  the  effort,  not  alone  to  pierce  the 
mists  which  cloud  the  horizon  from  this  plane  to  the 
psychic  planes,  but  to  pierce  the  mirage  of  the  uni- 
verse and  there  behold  Him,  "One  without  a  second." 


The  Visible  and  the  Invisible.  301 

The  spiritualism  which  should  be  realized  is  the  type 
that  enters  into  the  heart  and  concentrates  upon 
the  secret,  not  only  of  the  world  above,  but  of  all 
worlds.  All  this  peregrination  of  mental  effort  to  dis- 
cern the  immediately  beyond  is  far  less  in  effect  than 
a  single  aspiration  to  the  Supreme,  far  less  than  a 
note  of  praise,  far  less  than  a  whisper  of  devotion. 
Surely  these  things  are  more  glorious  than  a  long 
routine  of  the  revealing  of  facts.  "Upon  the  veriest 
pinnacle  of  soul  emotion  is  directed  to  the  Ideal.  It 
cares  not  for  return.  It  seeks  no  bargain.  Engrossed 
with  love  for  the  Ideal,  it  witnesses  only  the  Ideal. 
It  does  not  stop  with  the  discovery  of  a  single  plane. 
It  recognizes  the  Ideal,  the  Highest  Self  in  all  planes 
from  the  coarsest  to  the  finest,  from  the  densest  to  the 
most  spiritual.  All  beings  are  Its  expression,  all  uni- 
verses Its  manifestation.  Wherever  the  ways  of  the 
Ideal  lead  the  soul  there  is  it  ecstatic  in  peace  trans- 
cending all  understanding.  Saint  Francis  di  Assisi, 
Wesley,  Saint  Theresa  of  Jesus,  Saint  John  the 
Apostle,  Zoroaster,  Al-Ghazali,  the  Buddha,  Rama- 
krishna,  Ram  Prasad,  all  the  lovers  of  the  Supreme, 
at  all  times  and  under  all  conditions,  have  realized  the 
highest  truth  in  deepest,  soul-inspiring  love.  The 
highest  knowledge  and  the  highest  love  lead  to  the 
same  goal.  They  reach  the  threshold  of  eternity  sep- 
arate in  name  and  quality,  but  when  they  have  passed 
the  threshold  they  lose  their  characteristics  and  merge 
into  the  Infinite  as  the  Absolute  Essence  of  Exist- 
ence, Knowledge  and  Bliss  Infinite.  Spiritualism  is 
embodied  in  the  significance  of  Self-knowledge.     The 


302  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

first  import  of  spiritualistic  discoveries  is  the  con- 
sciousness of  immortality.  Once  aware  that  for  us 
there  is  no  death,  that  this  entire  outer  arrangement 
is  less  by  far  than  the  soul,  we  grow  unconquerably 
fearless.  Terrors  do  not  exist  for  us.  Nothing  can 
daunt  our  efforts  at  realization.  Courageously  we 
tread  the  Path.  We  smile  at  death.  When  it  comes, 
we  welcome  it  with  open  arms,  for  death  is  the  kind 
liberator  of  the  soul  from  mortal  existence.  Death 
restores  us  to  the  existence  which  is  in  keeping  with 
freedom  of  expression.  Death  affords  us  as  much  as 
life.  Just  as  we  come  into  this  plane  endowed  with 
sense  and  mental  faculties,  so  on  the  plane  of  spirit 
we  find  ourselves  endowed  with  sense  and  mental  fac- 
ulties, with  this  difference,  that  in  the  latter  instance 
the  faculties  are  given  greater  area  of  expression.  He 
who  fears  death  would  fear  life  more,  if  conscious  of 
the  limitations  of  the  latter  as  compared  with  the 
former.  Both  death  and  life  are  opportunities.  They 
are  the  dual  expression  of  the  one  central  truth,  the 
evolution  of  Spirit.  They  both  serve  in  soul  develop- 
ment. They  both  educate  and  refine.  He  who  is  born 
must  die,  and  he  who  dies  must  again  be  born,  say 
the  Upanishads.  Mortal  existences  are  like  the  days 
and  deaths  are  like  the  nights. 

The  Naked  Sword  of  Pure  Divinity  assumes  these 
sheaths  of  mind,  body  and  soul.  In  the  highest  sense 
it  is  sheathless;  it  is  ever  drawn,  only  in  our  igno- 
rance we  understand  it  as  being  enclosed  within  the 
principles  constituting  human  nature.  Its  burnished 
light  cleaves  the  bondage  of  body-superstition,  de- 


The  Visible  and  the  Invisible.  303 

stroys  ignorance  of  mind  and  burns  passion  to  ashes. 
The  Dragon  is  the  lower  self  which,  in  self-assertion, 
accredits  reality  solely  to  its  own,  and  denies  the  all- 
embracing  reality  of  the  Highest  Self.  With  the 
Sword  of  Wisdom,  the  Shield  of  Faith  and  the 
Valor  which  comes  with  the  knowledge  of  the 
Divine  within,  the  aspiring  soul  destroys  the  "beast 
within,"  the  lower  self,  impelled  by  the  fever  of 
desire  and  the  frenzy  of  passion.  The  fight  is 
bitter  and  long.  Lives  upon  lives  pulsate  in  the 
ebb  and  flow,  during  which  now  the  higher  self  and 
then  the  lower  self  is  in  control.  But  the  end  is  as- 
sured, because  the  omnipotence  of  Self  must  conquer. 
The  lasting  qualities  of  this  bitter  struggle  are  due 
to  ourselves.  We  are  the  Dragon  and  also  Self.  In 
the  shifting  of  a  consciousness,  now  spiritual,  now 
material,  the  balance  is  rarely  even.  When  that  even- 
ness is  attained  the  lower  self  is  destroyed  and  the 
true  Self  shines,  pure  and  undefiled.  The  dissonance 
must  cease.  The  spiritual  symphony  must  be  sounded 
that  reaches  the  "ears  of  God."  Then  is  the  soul 
manifest  on  all  planes.  If  the  purified  wishes  the  de- 
parted to  come,  they  will  come  at  his  bidding.  He  is 
at  oneness  of  vibration  with  the  entire  universe.  The 
gods  are  his  servants.  He  finds  himself  in  the  vast- 
ness  and  sees  Self  as  inherent  in  all.  He  knows  this 
universe  as  Self.  Thus  the  Self  of  all  answers  his 
wish.  Through  the  omnipotence  and  omnipresence  of 
Self  all  beings  are  consciously  or  unconsciously  his 
well-wishers,  serving  him  in  the  fulness  of  their  na- 
ture.    This  is  spiritualism,  but  it  is  the  spiritualism 


304  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

which  reaches  through  and  through  this  ocean  of 
"combinations,"  forming  as  it  will  and  assuming 
whatever  manifestation  it  chooses. 

Whom  the  scriptures  of  the  world  praise,  Whom  all 
buings  love  and  adore  as  the  Ideal,  Whom  this  universe 
serves  and  of  Whom  it  is  the  evanescent  reflection  and 
manifested  essence,  He  is  Self,  He  is  the  truly  Im- 
mortal, He  is  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega,  He  is  resi- 
dent on  all  planes,  larger  than  the  largest,  smaller  than 
the  smallest,  all-interpenetrating,  all-encompassing,  the 
Soul  of  all  souls,  the  breath  of  all  creatures,  the  life, 
the  form,  the  mind,  the  psychic  character,  the  com- 
plexities of  good  and  evil,  light  and  darkness,  knowl- 
edge and  ignorance,  peace  and  strife,  curse  and  bless- 
ing, saint  and  sinner,  all  in  all.  Him  do  we  praise 
and  worship  when  we  seek  to  discover  the  realms  of 
the  psychic.  Him  do  we  adore  when  we  seek  to  know 
more  concerning  the  things  about  us.  Him  do  we 
seek  when  we  strive  after  spirituality  and  realization, 
for  He  is  the  secret  both  of  realization  and  effort. 
This  is  spiritualism.  This  is  the  highest  worship  and 
the  highest  truth.  Than  this  is  no  greater  glory,  bliss, 
peace  and  freedom.  Whom  the  gods  worship  as  the 
Everlasting,  the  Ancient,  Unborn  and  the  Pure  and 
Free,  That  is  thy  Self,  the  Kuler  within,  the  Immor- 
tal. Seeking  This  is  true  spiritualism.  Finding  it, 
that,  indeed,  is  true  joy.  In  the  folds  of  darkness  we 
ignorantly  wander,  but  Thy  light  is  ever  shining.  In 
this  have  we  Faith.  Sometime  we  shall  inhabit  the 
Immortal  Regions  where  naught  is  save  Peace  Abso- 
lute, Bliss  Absolute,  Infinite  Knowledge,  Love,  Light 


The  Visible  and  the  Invisible.  305 

and  Life.  Otherwise  striving  were  hopeless;  our 
faith  a  despair,  our  search  futile,  our  existence  mean- 
ingless. This  is  the  truth.  This  is  the  Immortal 
which  raises  us  from  this  death  of  life  and  exalts  us 
to  the  Inconceivable  Self,  Greater  than  the  Great, 
Greater  than  the  Person,  the  Essence  of  Soul. 

Boethius  was  a  philosopher,  and  at  the  downfall  of 
his  fortunes  he  took  refuge  in  philosophy,  so  he  tells 
us  in  "On  the  Consolations  of  Philosophy."  But 
philosophy  is  a  poor  substitute  for  that  direct  super- 
conscious  perception  which  the  evolution  of  Spirit 
awakens.  Spiritually  developed,  we  realize  that  both 
pleasure  and  pain  are  temporary,  that  what  is  to-day 
to-morrow  passes,  that  all  is  evanescent  save  the  in- 
comparable glory  and  beauty  of  Self,  passing  all 
understanding.  The  man  who  stands  on  the  moun- 
tain has  no  idea  of  detail  of  scene.  He  does  not  dis- 
cern the  unevenness  of  soil  or  the  many  topographical 
differences  in  the  distance.  It  is  all  one  view,  and  in 
the  oneness  of  view  separate  differences  are  lost  sight 
of.  He  who  is  in  the  valley  sees  the  distinction  in 
buildings,  in  trees,  in  landscape,  and  so  forth. 
Blessed  is  he  who  stands  on  the  high  mountain  of 
spiritual  insight ;  to  him  is  forever  lost  the  dis- 
tinctions that  desire  and  ignorance  entail.  He  has 
lost  consciousness  of  manifoklness.  "He  who  in  this 
world  of  manifoldness  sees  that  One  running  through 
all.  In  this  world  of  death  he  who  finds  that  One 
Infinite  Life.  In  this  world  of  insentience  and  ig- 
norance he  who  finds  that  One  Light  and  Knowledge, 
unto  him  comes  eternal  peace,  unto  none  else,  unto 


306  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

none  else."  Glorious  is  the  soul  when  it  perceives 
Him,  the  goal  of  all  perception,  the  goal  of  all  discov- 
ery. For  what  are  we  so  eagerly  seeking,  for  what 
so  patiently  striving;  why  the  round  of  existence, 
why  all  this  phenomenalism,  why  all  this  endless 
query  ?  It  is  because  the  soul,  like  a  piece  of  steel,  is 
drawn  to  the  Great  Magnet.  "Om,  Hari,  Om,"  sing 
the  devotees  of  Love  Supreme.  Hari,  such  is  the  San- 
scrit name  for  "Him  Who  attracts  all  things  unto 
Himself."  Om,  that  mystic  word  which  includes  the 
personal  conception  of  the  Principle  of  evolution, 
preservation  and  destruction.  Om,  the  mystic  word 
which  includes  the  impersonal  conception  of  the 
Principle  of  the  universe  in  the  transcendent  light  of 
antedating  the  manifested  universe  by  eternity  and 
infinity.  Om,  the  mystic  word,  of  three  letters, 
ATJM,  and  the  hiatus  representing  the  "lost  word." 
Each  of  these  letters  stand  for  a  certain  word.  The 
hiatus  stands  for  the  Holy  Name  of  the  Supreme 
spoken  only  in  the  Inner  Court  of  the  Initiates.  The 
hiatus  stands  for  the  Word  of  which  the  Apostle 
wrote:  "In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the 
Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God."  The 
soul  lifted  beyond  itself,  reached  through  and  through 
itself,  divested  of  ignorance,  radiant  in  understand- 
ing, accomplished  in  the  ways  of  truth,  love  and  ecs- 
tasy, intuitively  discovers  the  Word.  All  songs  of 
praise,  all  poems  of  inspiration,  all  towering  philos- 
ophy are  an  approach  to  the  Word  which  is  God.  The 
Word  was  spoken  and  the  worlds  came  into  space. 
The  Word  was  spoken  and  light  was.    In  the  Tmmen- 


The  Visible  and  the  Invisible.  307 

sities  the  Word  was  uttered  and,  lo,  the  Immensities 
revealed  themselves  in  the  Infinities  of  Space  and 
Time.  At  Thy  feet,  O  Spirit  of  the  Word,  we  sit 
and  wonder.  We  seek  the  saving  knowledge.  Give 
that  to  us.  We  seek  to  behold  Thy  face.  We  seek 
that  our  souls  be  consumed  by  the  fire  of  Thy  unutter- 
able love.  Inflame  our  minds  with  Thy  wisdom.  De- 
stroy in  us  the  sense  of  egoism  that  we  may  closer 
approach  Thee,  the  central  truth,  the  sustaining  prin- 
ciple ;  Thee,  the  celebrated  in  all  the  dogmas  of  relig- 
ion ;  Thee,  the  essence  of  Trinities.  Enfold  us  within 
the  wings  of  Thy  Divine  Motherhood.  Who  is  man 
that  he  can  depend  on  anything  save  Thy  wonderful 
tenderness !  Thou  alone  understandest.  Touch  our 
soul  with  the  fire  of  Thy  Divinity,  so  that  the  lower 
may  perish  and  the  Higher  be  exalted  beyond  speech 
and  thought.  In  Thee  do  we  seek  refuge.  Thou  art  the 
refuge  of  the  weak  and  the  oppressed,  the  consolation 
of  the  afflicted,  the  comfort  of  the  down-trodden,  the 
Spirit  of  hope,  of  salvation,  of  inextinguishable  com- 
passion and  inexpressible  love.  Drown  our  ignorance 
in  the  ocean  of  Thy  omniscience.  Destroy  with  the 
fire  of  love  our  feverish  desire  to  manifest  un- 
truth. We  are  Self.  Thou,  O  Pure  One,  do  we  per- 
sonalize. Thus  do  we  see  Thee.  The  mind  is  depend- 
ent on  symbols.  The  Within,  "Thou  art  That."  Thou 
art  the  soul.  Thou  art  the  mind.  Thou  art  ourselves. 
We,  we  are  Thee.  O  Spiritual  Essence,  O  Burnished 
Light  of  Truth,  here  do  we  see  Thee  present  and 
there.  On  the  ocean  of  space  infinite  dost  Thou  rest. 
Where  is  the  place  Thou  art  not  ?    Wherever  we  turn 


308  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

it  is  Thy  face  we  behold.  Where  we  stand  there 
Thou  art.  Thou  art  the  speech  and  the  thought  of 
the  speech.  Thou  art  the  speaker  and  the  listener. 
Thou  art  all  in  all.  Remembering  this,  how  can  we 
remember  this  personal  self !  Recalling  this  to  mind, 
where  is  there  room  for  separate  existence,  existence 
apart  from  Thee!  Of  ourselves  we  are  nothing. 
Through  Thee,  indeed,  we  are  omnipotent.  When 
will  Thy  Infinite  Compassion  reveal  itself  unto  us, 
so  that  we  may  see  Thee  ?  In  seeing  Thee  do  we  see 
this  entire  universe,  and  what  is  not  this  universe. 
Thy  face  encompasses  nature.  Thou  art  the  true 
and  the  real,  the  essentially  beautiful,  the  incompar- 
able, the  unthinkable,  the  ecstasy  of  the  devotee,  his 
prayer  and  his  love,  his  soul,  mind  and  body. 

Faith  is  the  factor  by  which  the  soul  is  translated 
beyond  existing  limitations.  Faith  exalts  power  of 
will,  enlarging  its  possibilities  of  activity.  Faith  can 
move  mountains.  Faith  draws  the  imaginative  from 
its  realm  into  the  sphere  of  practicality  and  useful- 
ness. It  renders  the  subjective  palpable  to  objective 
consciousness.  The  things  of  thought,  being  unrelated 
to  planes  of  physical  manifestation,  can  be  grasped 
only  as  consciousness  expands  to  the  superior.  Faith 
develops  the  necessary  expansion.  It  is  subjective 
perception.  Later  this  perception  makes  way  for  di- 
rect knowledge.  Belief  is  the  avenue  for  the  experi- 
ence of  consciousness.  Possibilities  are  in  ratio  to  the 
belief  in  possibilities.  Communication  with  beings 
resident  on  the  psychic  planes  becomes  established 
through  a  strong  faith.    Hesitation  and  doubt  are  the 


The  Visible  and  the  Invisible.  309 

opponents  of  success.  The  mind  need  not  question 
communication  so  long  as  the  results  are  in  strict 
accordance  with  reason,  which  must  be  satisfied,  else 
any  madman  could  consider  his  experience  as  real 
and  fundamentally  related  to  the  facts  of  rational 
truth.  Investigation  carried  on  in  a  scientific  and 
truth-loving  spirit  results  in  the  manifestation  of  the 
phenomena.  To  direct  perception,  antagonistic  argu- 
ment is  foolish.  Those  who  see,  hear  and  feel  cannot 
be  persuaded  that  they  do  not  see,  hear  and  feel.  If 
conscious  experience  is  questioned  what,  indeed,  is 
real  ?  If  there  were  but  a  small  number  who  claimed 
acquaintance  with  the  psychic  world,  the  truth  of  their 
experience  might  be  questioned.  But  from  time  im- 
memorial innumerable  experiences  similar  in  charac- 
ter to  those  we  to-day  observe  have  been  going  on. 
Ancestor  worship,  Shintoism  and  many  esoteric  ele- 
ments in  orthodox  religions  serve  as  illustration.  The 
religions  of  Greece  and  Rome  were  filled  with  the 
central  idea  of  spiritualism.  They  believed  that  the 
departed  were  aware  of  their  fortune  and  circum- 
stance. They  reverenced  them  and  used  their  names 
in  swearing  the  truth  or  calling  upon  assistance  from 
the  invisible  in  the  hour  of  need  or  danger.  Shinto- 
ism is  a  direct  form  of  religio-spiritualistic  worship. 
Many  prayers  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  are 
directed  to  the  Saints  in  Heaven.  Evidently  the  pos- 
sibility of  communication  is  recognized,  for  the 
Saints  must  hear  the  prayers,  be  affected  by  the  rev- 
erence and  devotion  directed  to  them  by  their  suppli- 
cants.    In  turn,  they  are  supposed  to  reach  out  to 


310  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

the  latter  in  sympathy  and  assistance,  thus  bringing 
about  a  psychic  communication  in  which  faith,  how- 
ever, is  the  dominant  factor.  Spiritualism  interprets 
this  communication  in  a  same  sense,  only  it  says  that 
direct  perception  is  the  direct  path,  while  faith  has 
only  a  minor  value.  With  regard  to  those  beings  of 
eminent  spirituality,  dwelling  far  beyond  the  vibra- 
tions of  earth,  devotion  and  reverence  are  inspired  by 
a  faith  based  upon  a  knowledge  of  the  possibility. 
We  have  communicated  with  beings  on  lower  planes, 
are  conscious  of  their  existence,  have  observed  facts 
in  the  connection.  We  know  that  the  soul  is  immortal 
and  that  the  souls  of  the  spiritual  sages,  once  incarnate 
on  earth-life  recognize  the  high  spiritual  vibrations 
emanating  from  us.  The  more  the  soul  accentuates 
the  spiritual  portion  of  its  nature,  the  closer  does  it 
come  to  high  spiritual  planes.  It  develops  the  latent 
spiritual  sense,  until  at  length  it  sees  with  open  eyes. 
Through  the  practice  of  spirituality  many  geniuses 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  so  developed  them- 
selves that  they  consciously  saw  the  Christ,  By  prac- 
ticing the  truths  which  the  Christ  delivered  his  fol- 
lowers grow  in  oneness  of  Spirit  with  Him.  Their 
bodies,  minds  and  souls  become  so  highly  sensitized 
that  finally  they  see  Him,  but  such  development  is 
rare. 

Those  on  the  same  planes  are  aware  and  can  com- 
mune with  each  other.  By  deep  concentration  and 
earnest  desire  they  can  come  into  contact  with  the  im- 
mediately superior  planes.  The  contact  may  at  first 
be  slight,  but  continued  practice  increases  develop- 


The  Visible  and  the  Invisible.  oil 

ment  and  perception.  What  we  desire  comes  to  us 
unless  desires  are  inverted  or  based  upon  false  ideas. 
Earnestly  desiring  to  develop  the  soul  by  bringing  it 
into  communion  with  Higher  Beings,  we  choose  that 
which,  to  all  purposes,  is  for  our  unfoldment.  With 
concentrated,  enthusiastic  desire  the  veils  are  rent 
and  we  stand  in  the  presence  of  the  Masters.  The 
real  end  of  spiritual  communion  is  development. 
That  is  the  reason  why  we  are  afforded  this  blessing. 
Those  who  come  to  us  from  the  invisible  always  bear 
at  least  one  message — the  everlastingness  of  the  spir- 
itual as  contrasted  with  the  temporal,  and  the  truly 
substantial  compared  with  the  ephemeral  phenomena 
of  mortal  life.  All  purposes  serve  in  the  moulding 
and  casting  of  character.  All  experiences,  whether 
psychic  or  normal,  have  their  root  in  broadening  the 
conception  of  life  and  truth.  We  can  serve  the  Ideal 
as  well  on  this  plane  as  on  another.  When  we  have 
learned  the  value  and  control  of  the  internal,  we  be- 
come lords  and  rulers  of  the  external,  for  the  external 
is  the  internal  manifested.  Gross  matter  is  the  outer 
crust.  Mind-stuff  is  the  inner  crust.  Mind  and  mat- 
ter form  combinations.  The  control  of  these  combina- 
tions is  the  business  which  psychic  control  imposes. 
In  turn,  psychic  control  is  brought  about  through  the 
consciousness  of  what  essentially  constitutes  Self. 
Self  is  isolated.  It  is  unidentified  with  these  mind- 
matter  combinations.  "As  particles  of  matter  com- 
bine in  space,  so  mind-waves  combine  in  time." 
Apart  from  these  is  the  Self,  the  true  Self,  unhamp- 
ered by  either  physical  or  mental  vibrations.    To  gain 


312  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

consciousness  of  this  Self,  we  must  pass  numberless 
experiences  in  this  wilderness  of  doubt  and  hesita- 
tion. The  physical  finally  paves  and  points  the  way 
to  the  super-physical,  the  psychic.  Perception  of  the 
psychic  planes  gives  a  true,  personal,  conscious  knowl- 
edge of  the  absolute  freedom  of  the  soul  from  the 
bondage  of  matter  and  mind.  In  this  manner  we  lose 
the  idea  that  we  are  either  mind  or  body,  that  we  are 
bound  either  by  space  or  time,  or  the  law  which  gov- 
erns the  dispensations  of  time  or  space.  The  will 
may  be  bound,  this  human  will  that  has  woven  its 
own  fate,  but  behind  the  will  is  something  which  is 
indescribable,  inconceivable,  something  which  we  call 
the  soul.  This  is  ever  free.  The  more  spiritual  we 
become,  the  more  we  realize  this  truth,  the  more  we 
identify  ourselves  with  That  which  is  beyond  the 
categories  of  this  universe,  beyond  name  and  form, 
beyond  all  duality,  manifoldness  and  ignorance.  Rel- 
ative knowledge  is  spun  by  the  warp  and  woof  of  time 
and  space.  Knowledge  everlasting  antedates  all 
things  of  finite  origin.  It  is  equal  to  the  soul,  consti- 
tuting its  essence. 

Whatever  is  best  within  our  nature,  that  must  come 
forth.  Whatever  the  spiritual  element  of  our  nature, 
that  must  be  manifested.  In  this  birth,  and  mani- 
festation the  entire  meaning  of  existence  is  implied, 
also  the  entire  meaning  of  this  effort  at  discovering 
the  Beyond,  not  only  in  philosophy  but  also  in  con- 
sciousness. The  goal  of  all  relation  is  extension  of 
the  spiritual.  For  this  reason  we  have  relations, 
friends,  benefactors,  yes,  and  enemies.    For  this  rea- 


The  Visible  and  the  Invisible.  313 

son  have  the  veils  which  separate  the  psychic  from  the 
physical  been  rent  in  twain.  Isolation,  unity,  free- 
dom, realization  are  the  end  of  all  psychic  effort, 
of  all  psychic  control,  of  all  psychic  conscious- 
ness. True  yearning  is  the  means  by  which  this 
rich  quest  of  spiritual  communication,  develop- 
ment and  realization  is  gained.  Putting  our  souls 
into  the  quest  we  achieve.  To  come  into  touch 
with  the  Masters  should  be  the  aim  in  spiritual 
communication.  In  proximity  to  them  the  edun- 
cation  of  the  soul  into  higher  forms  of  spiritual 
knowledge  and  progress  is  quickened.  A  man  battling 
against  the  waves  which  threaten  to  drown  him  is  sin- 
cere in  his  effort.  Intense  sincerity  will  bring  us, 
not  alone  to  the  goal  of  highest  spiritual  communica- 
tion, but  to  the  goal  of  Infinite  existence,  to  the  feet 
of  the  Highest  Self,  Paramatman. 

The  gods  reside  on  the  Olympian  planes  of  Being 
and  Thought.  From  this  exalted  position  They  view 
subordinate  planes.  The  faintest  sigh  for  aid  arouses 
Their  compassion  and  love.  They  send  Their  assist- 
ance. Conscious  are  They  of  us.  Before  we  are  con- 
scious of  Them  we  must  ascend  the  Olympian  mount 
of  Spirit.  In  this  ascent  They  lend  us  helping  hands. 
But  They  and  all  of  us  who  reach  the  summit  of  spir- 
itual endeavor  still  behold  the  Ineffably  Infinite 
above.  Spiritual  communication  leads  us  into  the 
love  of  those  who  are  spiritual;  it  leads  to  spiritual 
heights,  but  the  goal  is  the  merging  into  the  Infinite. 
That,  too,  is  accomplished  by  desire,  by  Infinite  De- 
sire, the  Desire  for  Infinite  Existence,  Infinite  Truth, 


314  The  Visible  and  the  Invisible. 

the  Desire  for  Nirvana,  the  Abode  of  Perfect  Peace, 
but  that  Desire  comes  when  all  other  desires  have  died 
out.  Spiritual  communication  must  be  confined  to  no 
particular  plane.  Even  here  we  are  in  spiritual  com- 
munication with  our  fellow-men  and  with  the  inhab- 
itants of  all  worlds,  if  our  hearts  have  been  set  aflame 
with  the  Divine  Fire,  and  if  our  characters  have  been 
moulded  in  the  Cast.  Unselfishness  is  selflessness, 
and  selflessness  lead  to  the  Supreme  Self  in  which 
all  life  communes. 


EEALIZATIOK 


CHAPTER   XII. 


EEALIZATION. 


In  the  solitude  of  his  nature  is  he  who  has  seen  the 
Truth,  who  has  become  one  with  the  Truth,  in  whom 
the  Truth  dwells,  whom  the  Truth  serves.  He  is  the 
Perfect  One  who  has  passed  the  path  of  many  lives 
and  now  enters  the  abode  of  blessedness,  wisdom  and 
infinite  peace.  JSTo  longer  is  he  the  person;  in  him 
desire  has  been  crushed.  Absolute  Existence,  knowl- 
edge and  Bliss  compose  the  Godhood  of  his  nature. 
In  the  immensities  of  the  Self  he  has  found  the 
source  of  all  knowledge  and  power.  He  is  the  Saint. 
In  him  character  has  reached  its  absoluteness  of  per- 
fection. He  is  the  Enlightened  One.  Knowledge 
with  him  is  no  longer  a  quality;  it  is  the  essence  of 
his  divinity.  He  is  the  Law,  for  the  workings  of  his 
Spirit  are  one  with  the  Law.  Having  seen  Self  as 
all  in  all,  in  his  omnipresent  embracingness,  he  has 
spiritualized  his  nature  into  the  nature  of  the  uni- 
verse, considering  all  beings,  animate  and  inanimate, 
as  constituted  of  the  same  essential  divinity.  This 
universe  is  the  form  of  Spirit.  Beyond  this  universe 
form  is  not,  nor  space,  nor  time,  nor  thought.  The 
Absolute,  the  Unconditioned  rests  in  immeasurable 
calm ;  in  unthinkable  peace.  This  the  Saint  has  real- 
ized.   All  the  truths  of  religion,  all  the  principles  of 


318  Realization. 

philosophy,  all  emotional  duties,  all  finite  experiences 
exist  no  longer  for  him.  For  all  these  things  serve  in 
the  attainment  of  realization.  They  are  steps  Godward, 
but  when  the  soul  becomes  conscious  that  the  object 
and  end  of  this  entire  evolution  is  to  perceive  the 
divine,  it  is  no  longer  bound  by  them.  The  borrowed 
light  of  personality  has  been  extinguished.  In  its 
place  shines  the  Spiritual  Sun,  heralding  the  Abso- 
lute, the  Infinite,  the  Eternal,  Omnipresent  God. 

Thus  have  the  sages  taught:  "Think  you  that  the 
Impersonal  is  the  negation  of  the  personal  ?  It  is  the 
fulfilment  and  reality  of  the  personal."  The  thought- 
lessness of  the  stone  is  not  the  thoughtlessness  of 
deity ;  neither  is  the  impersonal  nature  of  divinity  the 
impersonal  nature  of  the  inanimate.  Both  thought 
and  personality  are  compounds.  The  nature  of  divin- 
ity is  simple.  It  is  oneness.  Complexity  and  duality 
have  hold  only  in  the  realm  of  the  finite.  Referring 
to  the  unity  and  divinity  of  all  souls  apart  from  their 
Karma  bondage,  a  Buddhist  Canon,  the  Avatamsaka 
Sutra,  says :  "Child  of  Buddha,  there  is  not  even  one 
living  being  that  has  not  the  wisdom  of  the  Tatha- 
gata.  It  is  only  because  of  their  vain  thoughts  and 
affections  that  all  beings  are  not  conscious  of  this, 
...  I  will  teach  them  the  Holy  Way ;  .  .  I  will 
make  them  forsake  their  foolish  thoughts,  and  cause 
them  to  see  that  the  vast  and  deep  intelligence  which 
dwells  within  them  is  not  different  from  the  wis- 
dom of  the  very  Buddha."  Diving  deeper  than  the 
veriest  depths  of  this  ocean  of  existence,  we  find 
the    precious    pearl    of   truth.     The  sky  is  infinite. 


Realization.  319 

The  nature  of  divinity  is  like  the  sky,  infinite  in 
extension,  potentiality  and  essence.  Trying  to  ex- 
pand our  nature  beyond  the  surface  of  this  shore- 
less ocean  of  finiteness  we  acquire  the  wings  of 
spiritual  understanding  and  are  endowed  with  the 
quality  of  tireless  effort  to  reach  into  the  supercon- 
scious.  Perfection  of  superconscious  perception  is 
the  doorway  to  the  Infinite.  What  that  Infinite  is, 
Self  alone  knows.  But  all  of  us  are  being  urged  on- 
ward, and  will  continue  to  be  urged  onward,  until  we 
are  brought  face  to  face  with  the  Reality  within. 
This  reality  is  not  thought,  nor  body.  Thought  and 
form  are  both  non-persistent,  and  persistence  is  the 
first  necessity  of  Reality.  Therefore  we  are  urged  to 
get  beyond  all  that  is  relative,  non-persistent,  unreal. 
The  unreality  of  things  as  conceived  in  the  Oriental 
philosophies  must  be  properly  interpreted,  else  it  will 
lead  into  the  absurdities  of  the  metaphysical  societies 
that  deny  reality  to  everything  except  their  respective 
tenets  of  belief.  The  synthesis  of  realization,  of 
reality  and  of  the  Law  is  embodied  in  Lafcadio 
Hearn's  inimitable  essay,  Nirvana:  "For  all  beings 
there  is  but  one  law, — immutable  and  divine ;  the  law 
by  which  the  lowest  must  rise  to  the  place  of  the  high- 
est,— the  law  by  which  the  worst  must  become  the 
best, —  the  law  by  which  the  vilest  must  become  a 
Buddha."  This  is  the  emotional  and  religio-ethical 
side.  The  philosophical  and  transfiguredly  realistic 
side  is  well  expressed  in  Herbert  Spencer's  writings: 
"Every  feeling  and  thought  being  but  transitory, — 
nay,  the  objects  amid  which  life  is  passed,  though  less 


320  Realization. 

transitory,  being  severally  in  the  course  of  losing  their 
individualities,  whether  quickly  or  slowly, — we  learn 
that  the  one  thing  permanent  is  the  Unknowable  Real- 
ity hidden  under  all  these  changing  shapes."  Our 
conception  of  the  external  world  is  physical.  If  we 
think  very  clearly  we  shall  discover,  however,  that  not 
alone  is  the  external  physical  but  also,  as  Schopen- 
hauer reminds  us,  metaphysical.  We  may  reduce  all 
sensations  to  the  sensation  of  touch.  We  may  explain 
the  development  of  the  sense  organs  from  the  skin. 
We  may  even  speak  of  the  brain  as  having  as  its  first 
beginning  merely  "an  infolding  of  the  epidermis 
layer/'  but  no  one  can  explain  "what  feels  the  touch." 
This  "what  feels  the  touch"  is  the  immaterial  spirit- 
ual unit  which  we  confuse  by  the  name  of  soul.  It 
is  something  which  is  distinct  from  the  soul  inasmuch 
as  it  constitutes  the  principle  of  individuality  in  the 
changes  of  personality.  Personality  is  constituted  of 
sensations  and  thoughts  forming  the  psychic  aggre- 
gate we  understand  as  Mr.  or  Mrs.  so  and  so.  But 
the  central  link  that  individualizes  this  aggregate  is 
the  spiritual  unit  which,  when  rendered  self-con- 
scious, ultimately  manifests  in  realization.  Person- 
ality does  not  perish  with  the  body.  The  psychic  ag- 
gregate does  not  materially  change  at  the  experience 
of  bodily  dissolution.  For  a  time  it  is  enlivened  in 
the  astral  world,  but  when  purely  subjective  existence 
commences,  this  psychic  aggregate  changes  as  the  ac- 
tions of  the  past  life  develop  into  tendencies  for  the 
immediately  future  life.  Just  as  each  thought  we 
think  has  its  changing  influence  expanding  or  con- 


Realization.  321 

tracting  consciousness,  just  as  continued  thought 
along  given  lines  will  radically  change  the  personal- 
ity into  the  musical  and  philosophical  or  artistic 
genius,  so  the  sum-total  of  life's  doings  will  mould 
the  cast  of  the  future  incarnation  according  to  the 
survival  of  the  fittest  psychic  units  constituting  past 
personality.  These  psychic  units  are  not  lost.  They 
are  transformed.  In  the  transformation  the  old  tend- 
encies which  were  cultivated  and  the  new  tendencies 
developed  through  deeds  in  life  coalesce  for  the  evo- 
lution of  a  more  complete  personality.  Thus  is  fur- 
thered the  development  of  man.  This  is  the  secret  of 
reincarnation. 

The  potential  in  the  universe  resembles  the  poten- 
tial in  man.  A  child  develops  the  musical  instinct, 
but  it  develops  it  by  reason  of  the  tendencies  of  the 
soul  toward  such  development.  So  is  the  universe. 
The  manifested  is  but  a  drop  in  the  infinite  ocean  of 
potential  existence.  From  the  potential  the  existent 
manifests.  Involution  is  as  vital  a  fact  as  evolu- 
tion. Without  the  one  the  other  is  meaningless. 
Satisfied  that  such  is  the  course  of  nature  and  such 
the  course  of  personal  evolution  we  feel  the  joy  in 
the  duty  of  self-perfection.  Evolution  reveals  possi- 
bilities to  us.  Each  year  brings  changes;  each  year 
brings  a  larger  view.  Evolution  makes  us  know  our- 
selves. It  makes  us  realize  the  endless  source  of  self- 
perfection  dormant  within  the  abyss  of  individuality. 
Each  new  life  affords  increased  opportunities  for 
mental  and  ethical  advancement.  The  thought  of 
each  new  life  is  like  a  to-morrow  that  we  always  hope 


322  Realization. 

will  be  brighter  and  more  beautiful.  The  bright- 
ness and  the  beauty  depend  upon  the  psychic  charac- 
ter of  present  development.  These  conditions  of  lives 
and  death  are  stages.  The  dead  are  not  dead.  Past 
lives  still  vibrate  in  the  psychic,  super-physical  force 
of  thoughts  and  feelings.  Behind  the  veil  which  sep- 
arates normal  from  superconscious  life  are  buried,  in 
ratio  of  depth  to  depth,  undreamable  numbers  of  past 
lives.  Educated  sensibilities  have  evolved  from 
simple  sensations,  having  physical  equations  as  their 
primal  cause.  The  refinement  of  character  is  an 
effort  toward  that  wonderful  perfection  that  the 
Christ,  the  Buddha  and  other  divine  sages  have  im- 
personated. The  refinement  consists  not  so  much  in 
anything  outward  or  in  any  set  of  qualities  or  ideas. 
It  is  the  attenuation  and  spiritualization  of  condi- 
tional and  qualified  consciousness.  Pure  conscious- 
ness is  without  name  and  form.  This  identification 
of  consciousness  with  the  temporalities  of  mind  and 
form  is  phantom.  Reason  persuades  us  that  the  truly 
real  is  changeless,  for  in  the  shifting  from  this  to  that, 
with  the  integration  of  new  and  the  disintegration  of 
old  qualities  nothing  stable  is  discerned.  As  this 
integration  and  disintegration  weave  personality,  the 
truly  real  constituent  of  our  nature  is  not  personality. 
It  is  deeper  than  personality.  The  truly  real  is  the 
permanent  canvas  sheet  upon  which  personality,  vivi- 
fied by  the  light  of  individuality,  shifts  and  changes. 
Pure  consciousness  and  reality  may  be  compared  with 
the  eternal  principle  of  light.  Individuality  may  be 
regarded  as  white,  which  is  colorless,  though  com- 


Realization.  323 

posed  of  numerous  colors  of  personality.  The  white 
light  is  intimately  associated  with  the  eternal  princi- 
ple of  light,  and  of  the  white  light  of  individuality 
personalities  are  radiating  colors.  All  progress  to- 
ward this  pure  consciousness  is  marked  by  greater 
and  greater  fineness  of  the  substances  composing  hu- 
man nature.  The  spiritually  advanced  are  sensible  to 
the  finer  vibrations  in  the  universe.  It  is  their  nature 
to  be  negative  to  evil.  As  it  is  the  nature  of  the  lotus 
to  raise  its  leaves  and  blossoms  above  the  corruption 
in  which  it  is  planted,  so  the  spiritual  being  rises 
above  worldliness  and  ignorance  because  such  is  his 
nature.  This  is  the  meaning  of  non-resistance  to 
evil.  It  implies  unconsciousness  of  evil.  He  who 
has  realized  the  spiritual  identity  of  his  nature  with 
the  nature  of  all  sentient  and  insentient  beings  bears 
no  ill-will,  because  it  is  only  the  divine  side  of  nature 
which  is  real  to  him.  Ignorance,  manifoldness  and 
death  are  to  him  non-existent.  He  has  realized  the 
One  Knowledge,  Life  and  Unity  which  interpenetrate 
all.  Profound  and  inexhaustible  is  life.  It  is  not 
something  uncertain;  it  is  not  a  playground  for  idle 
passions.  Life  is  serious.  ISTot  that  it  is  a  tragedy. 
It  is  composed  of  balances.  ISTow  the  scale  rises  high 
in  spiritual  emotion  or  unselfish  performance  of  duty, 
in  artistic  endeavor  or  humanitarian  efforts,  in  joy 
and  bliss;  then  it  falls  into  gloom  and  darkness, 
apathy  and  selfish  pursuit,  musfortune  and  pain. 

In  the  highest  sense,  who  is  born  and  who  dies? 
What  is  this  procession  of  principles  and  phenomena  ? 
What  is  the  aim  and  the  purpose  of  the  cosmos  ?    Rel- 


324  Kealization. 

atively  regarded,  the  end  is  revealed  in  the  progress 
of  constant  evolution.  Once,  however,  the  mind  is 
philosophically  and  spiritually  convinced  that  Self 
alone  is,  that  the  reality  of  this  universe  is  only  a 
borrowed  reality,  it  sees  the  emptiness  of  the  turning 
of  the  wheel  of  life  and  death  and  death  and  life. 
Self  is  eternal.  How,  then,  has  It  become  subject  to 
time  ?  If  it  is  formless,  how  is  it  that  It  has  become 
subject  to  numberless  forms  and  the  accidents  which 
happen  to  form  ?  How,  if  It  is  the  embodiment  of  all 
knowledge,  can  ignorance  exist?  The  answer  must 
come  from  each  individual  soul.  Truths  beyond 
mental  perception  exist.  When  the  soul  has  entered 
higher  phases  of  consciousness,  possibly  a  richer 
conception  of  the  primary  cause  of  this  universal 
delusion,  of  ignorance,  relativity  and  endless  recur- 
rence of  life  and  death  may  develop.  Until  then 
we  must  abide  by  the  philosophical  spirit  which 
recognizes  the  impossibility  of  a  definite  philo- 
sophical solution  to  the  causal  problem.  As  the 
subject  of  this  inquiry  is  necessarily  beyond  the 
universe,  its  solution  must  come  from  some  ele- 
ment of  individual  nature  also  beyond  the  categories 
and  the  accidents  of  the  universe.  If  there  is  some- 
thing existentially  and  eternally  real  within  the  pro- 
found depths  of  individuality,  it  must  be  one  with 
the  synthetic  causal  reality  of  the  cosmos.  Only  the 
persistently  real  within  the  nature  of  man  can  appre- 
ciate the  underlying  source  of  evolution.  First,  Self 
must  be  understood.  First,  we  must  realize  the  unify- 
ing Self  Which  identifies  one  with  all,  Which  knows 


Realization.  325 

no  distinctions,  is  conscious  of  no  manifoldness  and 
rests  in  endless  divinity  from  eternity  to  eternity. 
Eternal  within  eternity,  such  is  Self.  This  Self  is 
regarded  as  the  Invisible,  Unimpressible,  Incompre- 
hensible, Indefinable,  Unthinkable,  Unknowable 
Being,  only  Conscious  of  Self  in  Self,  i.e.,  the  Abso- 
lute and  the  Unconditioned,  with  no  trace  of  the  rela- 
tive or  the  conditioned  world  about  Him,  All-Calm, 
All-Bliss,  One  and  One  Only.  Were  Self  conscious 
of  this  universe,  It  would  be  limited.  The  Absolute 
is  ever  the  Absolute.  It  is  the  Absolute  in  the  rela- 
tive. Beyond  limited  existence  is  the  Infinitely  Ex- 
istent One.  Beyond  relative  knowledge  is  the  Omnis- 
cient One.  Beyond  this  strife,  struggle  and  darkness 
is  the  Infinitely  Blissful  One,  the  Splendor  of  Spir- 
itual Intelligence  and  Illumination.  In  all  acts  of 
justice,  kindness,  mercy,  and  in  all  virtuous  manifest- 
ation Self,  the  Supreme,  is  present.  The  realization 
of  Self  has  little  to  do  with  book  learning  or  knowl- 
edge derived  through  reason  or  experimentation. 
When  realization  comes  the  flood-gates  of  omniscience 
open.  Then  comes  inspiration,  teaching  by  the  Self 
within,  by  the  Immortal  and  Omniscient  Who  shows 
the  Way  to  Peace  by  teaching  the  truth  of  Self. 
The  greatest  teachers  of  mankind  have  been  illiterate 
in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  but  their  words  had  power 
and  their  message  was  presented  in  a  convincing  man- 
ner. They  did  not  reason  or  follow  the  exacting  rules 
of  logic,  yet  their  teaching  extended  to  all  nations  and 
ages.  Reason  is  a  poor  arbiter  of  truth  compared 
with  that  indescribable  something  resident  in  spirit- 


326  Realization. 

ual  personalities  which  makes  those  who  hear  them 
know  that  their  sayings  are  true.  That  is  the  force 
of  spirituality.  It  can  give  life  to  a  dead  body.  It 
can  resurrect  the  divinity  within  the  innermost  na- 
ture. It  can  exalt  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest.  It 
can  cause  the  sinner  to  forsake  his  way.  It  is  the 
joy  of  the  saint,  the  inspiration  of  the  disciple,  the 
radiant  essence  of  the  Master.  It  is  the  powerful 
stimulus  in  the  success  of  the  Teacher.  Wherever 
there  is  sincere  religion,  this  spirituality  is  in  de- 
velopment. Wherever  emotional  sestheticism  prevails 
there  can  it  be  found.  Spirituality  is  as  real  as  any 
of  the  physical  forces.  It  is  the  force  that  impels 
the  soul  toward  Realization;  the  force  that  banishes 
the  darkness  of  the  spiritual  night  and  causes  Truth 
to  take  its  abode  within  the  heart.  This  spirituality 
develops  when  the  emotions  become  refined,  when  the 
coarse  elements  of  the  physical  and  their  mental  re- 
flections have  been  brought  under  control,  when  the 
soul  perceives  by  the  light  of  intuition  and  inspiration, 
and  when  it  is  consciously  related  to  the  idea  of  uni- 
versal Brotherhood.  It  develops  with  the  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice,  self-abnegation,  self-denial,  self-control,  and 
with  greater  effort  and  desire  to  realize  the  best  with- 
in. It  causes  the  Ideal  to  be  loved  for  its  own  sake, 
not  for  the  sake  of  any  personal  qualities.  The  Ideal 
does  not  exist  in  the  dominion  of  the  imaginative.  It 
is  inestimably  more  real  than  the  phenomena  that 
the  senses  perceive.  On  its  own  plane  it  is  percept- 
ible and  knowable.  When  the  soul  raises  itself  to 
that  plane  it  sees  with  open  vision,  coming  face  to  face 


Realization.  327 

with  the  Spirit  of  the  Ideal  manifest  in  inspiration 
and  in  the  spiritual  urge.  The  depth  of  the  heart  can 
never  be  truly  aroused  until  it  has  been  consecrated 
by  the  essence  of  purity.  Purity  is  the  absence  of 
coarseness,  dullness,  ignorance,  primitive  desire  and 
its  gratification.  It  is  the  refinement  of  sensibilities 
directed  toward  the  Ideal.  It  is  the  spiritualization 
of  the  mind  and  heart.  It  is  the  centralization  of  the 
soul  upon  the  beauty  within  the  fathomless  depths  of 
Spirit.  "Nothing  defiled  can  enter  heaven,"  say  the 
Scriptures.  And  nothing  defiled  must  exist  in  the 
individual  desirous  of  perceiving  the  truth  and  seeing 
the  Master.  We  must  become  as  children,  ignorant 
of  worldliness  and  of  the  desires  and  emotions  that 
lead  to  worldliness.  Consciousness  must  be  solely 
absorbed  with  the  spiritual  realities  of  life.  Our 
natures  must  be  simple.  We  must  be  positive  against 
all  ambitions  that  mirror  the  lust  of  the  lower  self. 
We  must  become  receptive  to  spiritual  intuitions  and 
experiences  that  instruct  the  soul  that  it  is  the  child 
of  the  Spirit. 

Realization  implies  the  full  meaning  of  the  word. 
There  is  no  half  way.  It  is  either  the  spiritual  or  the 
material.  It  is  impossible  to  serve  both  God  and 
Mammon.  It  is  impossible  to  give  absorbing  atten- 
tion both  to  the  things  of  the  world  and  to  the  things 
of  the  soul.  Filled  with  worldly  ambitions,  how  can 
the  mind  adequately  turn  to  Self  ?  There  is  not  suffi- 
cient appreciation  of  the  truth  of  Spirit  to  cause  any 
great  effort  toward  the  Divine.  We  cannot  claim  to 
be  spiritual  and  at  the  same  time  be  occupied  with 


328  Realization. 

the  transitory  and  ephemeral.  Our  life  is  a  whole, 
and  the  whole  must  be  directed,  as  a  whole,  toward  the 
perfect  development  of  truth.  When  we  earnestly 
desire  anything,  the  avenue  is  made  clear  and  we 
attain  the  desired  end.  Grounded  into  the  very  es- 
sence of  the  soul  is  the  power  to  realize  whatever  it 
is  concentrated  upon,  except  when  the  mind  has  in- 
verted ideas  of  the  thing  desired,  deeming  it  good 
and  useful  when  it  is  evil  and  pain-producing.  If  the 
soul  is  overcome  with  enthusiasm  to  get  beyond  its 
present  limitations,  nothing  can  serve  as  an  obstacle. 
The  mightiest  conditions  are  overcome.  Circum- 
stances, events,  conditions  are  so  shifted  as  to  serve 
the  aspiring  soul.  The  soul  is  possessed  of  the  great- 
est uplifting  force  and  it  must  win.  Perfect  freedom 
is  the  reward  of  the  sincere  effort  at  Self-realization. 
This  freedom  comes  either  through  non-attachment, 
or  through  the  pounding  to  pieces  of  barriers.  Sor- 
rows come  only  as  we  attach  value  to  the  circum- 
stances that  cause  sorrow.  Remove  the  attachment 
and  the  sorrow  passes.  If  there  is  great  attachment 
to  certain  places  or  conditions  we  will  miss  them.  If 
we  see  the  Ideal  ever  present,  we  will  recognize  It  in 
the  seemingly  unpleasant.  It  is  only  as  we  recognize 
the  surface  phases  of  life  that  we  are  molested  by 
them.  Once  we  have  seen  the  true  and  the  real  under- 
lying all  surface  expression  we  have  gotten  beyond 
the  point  where  it  can  hurt  us.  Non-attachment  does 
not  mean  that  emotion  must  be  killed.  It  means  the 
fulness  of  emotion,  the  ability  to  render  emotion  spir- 
itually expressive.     Attachment  focalized  upon  one 


^Realization.  329 

condition  or  set  of  experiences  is  apt  to  make  the 
soul  provincial.  What  the  soul  needs  for  its  perfect 
development  is  change  of  environment,  mind  and 
emotion.  It  must  pass  through  endless  variety  of 
experiences  to  arrive  at  a  more  developed  view  of  life. 
Sympathies  must  grow ;  they  must  get  beyond  provin- 
cial conditions  and  extend  to  greater  areas  and  to  a 
more  general  inclusiveness.  That  is  the  meaning  of 
non-attachment.  The  anchorite  does  not  go  apart 
from  the  world  because  he  despises  it.  It  is  because 
he  loves  Self  more.  Leaving  the  world  because  of  a 
less  worthy  reason  is  not  spiritual.  One  must  be  able 
to  stand  all  conditions  and  behold  the  Ideal  even  in 
the  repulsive.  He  must  be  able  to  see  the  Ideal  in 
the  enemy,  in  the  bestial  and  crude,  for  there  It  re- 
sides, though  deeply  obscured  by  the  coarseness  of 
ignorance  and  worldliness.  A  brave  man  faces  con- 
ditions. He  grows  in  understanding  and  the  prac- 
tice of  understanding  as  he  is  confronted  by  the 
tempestuousness  of  life.  It  is  the  whirlwind  of 
misfortune  which  scatters  stagnation.  In  the  re- 
peated and  swift  changes  that  befall  the  person,  in- 
tuition is  developed.  The  sense  of  self-confidence  is 
unfolded.  Self-respect  and  ambitions  are  quickened. 
Iso  man  has  become  great  and  realized  the  best  within 
without  having  first  of  all  overwhelmed  conditions 
apparently  about  to  overwhelm  him.  It  is  at  the 
darkest  that  the  day  begins  its  course.  It  is  when 
all  holds  seem  lost  and  the  light  is  nowhere  to  be 
seen,  when  help  is  far  and  the  path  seems  tedious  that 
the  psychic  atmosphere  clears,  and  the  soul  again  be- 


330  Realization. 

holds  the  spiritual  guidance  which  ever  surrounds  it, 
ever  enfolding  it  with  care  and  protection.  The 
soul  is  always  provided  for.  The  forces  of  evil  and 
ignorance  may  abound,  but  the  forces  of  the  Spirit 
are  omnipotent.  Never  should  fear  enter  our  hearts. 
Never  should  we  be  distressed.  The  Lord  in  the 
Bhagavad  Gita,  one  of  the  celebrated  epics  of  India, 
reminds  us  never  to  be  disheartened.  He  says:  "In 
order  to  make  yourself  free,  no  depression  should  be 
allowed."  In  the  end,  whom  is  there  to  fear  when  we 
realize  the  great  facts  of  the  Invisible,  the  fact  that, 
so  long  as  we  conduct  ourselves  within  the  vibrations 
of  the  Law  and  the  Faith,  nothing  but  the  best  can 
com?  to  us  ?  The  Omnipresence  of  Spirit,  the  All- 
embracing  Self  is  our  protector.  All  that  we  need  do 
is  to  withdraw  our  consciousness  from  the  turbulence 
of  circumstances  and  center  it  upon  the  Ideal,  en- 
throned within  the  innermost  sanctuary  of  the  soul. 
Resident  is  He,  the  Truth,  Life  and  Light,  resident 
in  the  heart.  When  we  speak  to  Llim,  He  hears ;  He 
knows  our  innermost  thoughts  and  the  conditions 
which  form  our  thoughts.  Our  souls  are  open  to  Him 
for  He  is  Self.  "He  can  hear  the  footfall  of  an  ant," 
said  the  Master.  "When  danger  surrounds  us,  when 
we  think  that  the  battle  against  the  lower  self  is  too 
difficult  and  that  we  are  being  worsted  in  our  efforts 
to  reach  the  goal,  we  need  only  call,  and  the  Master 
knows.  "Not  unto  ourselves,  O  Lord,  not  unto  our- 
selves, but  unto  Thy  name  give  glory,"  sang  the 
Psalmist  of  old.  Who  can  fear,  if  in  the  hour  of  dis- 
tress the  Master  is  seen  ?    The  Master  disguises  Him- 


Realization.  331 

self  in  many  forms.  Sometimes  He  comes  in  the  way 
of  the  terrible  to  teach  a  lesson.  Let  us  meet  all  with 
open  arms,  knowing  that  He  is  only  disguising  Him- 
self. If  we  recognize  Him,  He  will  throw  aside  His 
guise  and  smile.  His  grace  will  be  manifest  in  the 
experience  we  gain  from  sorrow,  in  the  broadening  of 
the  soul,  in  the  enlarging  of  views,  in  the  knowledge 
of  oneness  of  all  faith,  all  experience,  all  truth  and 
life.  We  are  being  moulded  into  the  image  of  the 
Divine.  We  are  clay  in  the  hands  of  the  Law,  im- 
pelled onward  through  this  condition  and  that,  im- 
pelled through  pleasure  and  pain,  joy  and  sorrow, 
sickness  and  death,  birth,  infancy,  childhood,  youth, 
adolescence  and  old  age.  Again  and  again  does  the 
Wheel  of  the  Law  raise  and  lower  the  tide  of  individ- 
uality, only,  however,  that  the  soul  may  grow  into 
larger  proportions  and  that  it  may  see  the  Essential 
in  all  experience.  What,  after  all,  remains  as  the 
result  of  experience  ?  Development  of  character. 
Body  passes,  and  so  does  mind,  but  Spirit  remains. 
Character  is  immortal.  That  survives  death.  It  con- 
tinues changing  and  rechanging  itself  in  accordance 
with  personal  development.  This  process  removes  the 
alloy  of  worldliness  and  the  desire  for  finite  manifest- 
ation. It  sets  aside  the  impurities  of  ignorance  and 
there  is  left  the  precious  consciousness  of  the  True 
and  the  Keal.  If  we  could  penetrate  the  mists  which 
hover  about  the  soul  and  discriminate  as  to  what  is 
true  and  real,  the  change  in  the  development  of  per- 
sonality would  be  inestimable.  Instead  of  chasing 
the  phantoms  of  sense  and  desire  we  would  make 


332  [Realization. 

every  possible  effort  to  educate  the  soul  into  the 
higher  knowledge  that  is  identifiable  with  spiritual 
consciousness.  The  mind  knows  a  fact  when  it  has  been 
forcibly  presented  in  conscious  experience.  All  other 
knowledge  is  founded  on  theory,  and  theories  change 
with  the  growth  of  mind  and  experience.  Therefore, 
if  spiritual  orders  of  life  exist,  they  must  be  con- 
sciously perceived.  So  as  to  bring  the  importance  of 
this  knowledge  and  its  mode  of  perception  close  to 
mind,  the  ancient  Aryan  sages  taught:  "That  Self  is 
to  be  seen,  heard,  perceived  and  known.  There  is  no 
other  way."  That  is,  the  knowledge  of  spiritual 
things  must  be  first-handed.  In  the  end,  faith  will 
never  do.  Faith  only  leads  to  the  threshold  of  knowl- 
edge. It  has  not  that  forcefulness  of  incentive  pos- 
sessed by  knowledge.  The  word  of  others,  however 
eminent,  is  not  sufficient.  If  faith  does  not  lead  to 
the  exaltation  of  consciousness  and  the  birth  of  in- 
spiration, it  is  of  no  avail.  It  has  not  the  vivifying 
spiritual  spark.  It  is  helpless  to  render  that  nec- 
essary spiritual  stimulus  without  which  no  achieve- 
ment along  spiritual  lines  can  be  had.  It  takes  much 
to  make  men  abandon  earthly  ambitions  and  strictly 
confine  themselves  to  the  things  of  the  soul.  It  is 
difficult  to  entertain  spiritual  emotions.  Once  those 
emotions  have  been  aroused,  the  highest  knowledge 
awaits  us. 

The  significance  of  renunciation  lies  in  the  giving 
up  of  things  temporal,  in  the  dissociation  of  the  soul 
from  desires  which  pull  it  downward  into  material 
expression;     it  lies    in    that   divine    self-abnegation 


Realization.  333 

which,  in  the  end,  brings  knowledge  of  Self.  The 
Christ  spoke:  "Take  np  your  cross  and  follow  me." 
This  bearing  the  cross,  however,  is  only  a  burden  in 
the  eyes  of  the  worldly-minded  and  of  those  whose 
ambitions  lead  into  diametrically  opposite  directions. 
It  would  be  an  extremely  great  burden  for  the  rich 
man  to  abandon  his  luxuries  and  to  follow  the  steps 
of  the  Teacher.  His  soul  has  not  as  yet  developed 
to  the  perception  that  wealth  is  so  much  trash  com- 
pared with  the  precious  treasure  of  the  Law.  "What 
would  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gained  the  whole 
world  and  lost  his  immortal  soul?"  Thus  did  the 
Christ  question  his  disciples.  If  a  man  possessed  in- 
definite material  resource,  if  he  conquered  the  entire 
world  and  was  the  absolute  master  of  all  he  desired 
and  if,  withal,  he  was  limited  in  soul,  what  would  be 
the  real  gain  ?  As  Yajnavalkya  retired  into  the  forest 
in  accordance  with  the  custom  followed  by  his  ances- 
tors, his  wife  Maitreyi  asked :  "My  lord,  if  I  should 
gain  this  whole  world  would  I  become  immortal  by 
it  ?"  "No,"  replied  Yajnavalkya.  "Thy  life  would 
be  as  the  life  of  rich  people.  But  there  is  no  hope 
of  immortality  by  wealth." 

"Know  Thyself"  was  written  over  the  gates  of  the 
Temple  of  the  oracle  at  Delphi.  This  mandate  has 
been  thundered  through  the  ages.  All  religions  have 
taken  it  as  their  motto  in  one  form  or  another.  Phi- 
losophies attempt  to  realize  the  meaning  of  the  man- 
date. But  knowing  one's  Self  is  realizing  the  essen- 
tially eternal  and  perfect  reality  within  the  soul,  is 
realizing  that  Self,  larger  than  the  largest,  smaller 


334  Realization. 

than  the  inconceivably  smallest,  that  Self,  the  core 
of  Being.  Stupendous  is  this  task  of  educating  the 
soul  into  Self-knowledge.  Lives  upon  lives  are 
needed.  Myriads  upon  myriads  of  efforts  must  be 
made.  Life  and  death  are  the  weavers.  Those  who 
have  passed  into  comprehensive  understanding  are 
lovers  of  Death.  God  is  personalized  as  much  in 
Death  as  in  Life.  Lovers  of  Death  are  those  who  de- 
stroy the  lower  self.  Priests  are  they  of  Shiva,  the 
destroying  principle  of  nature.  Devotees  are  they  of 
the  goddess  Kali,  Who  laughs  at  death.  Shiva,  the 
Third  Person  of  the  Brahmanic  Trinity,  is  the  Eter- 
nal Yogi  meditating  upon  the  phantomness  and  the 
evanescence  of  relative  existence ;  He  is  Self-absorbed 
in  the  Highest  Truth  of  which  this  universe  is  the 
inverted  reflection.  Such  must  the  individual  become 
before  the  Law  blesses  him  in  the  perpetual  knowl- 
edge of  Self,  the  knowledge  which  is  immovable  and 
unchangeable.  In  all  religions  this  idealistic  ascetic- 
ism is  emphasized.  It  is  the  spirit  of  all  ethics.  The 
unquestionable  proof  of  spirituality  is  its  simplicity. 
Spirituality  does  not  necessarily  linger  in  ritualism 
or  dogma.  That  is  only  the  outward  presentation  of 
inner  truth.  Spirituality  is  expressed  in  character. 
That  seems  prosaic,  since  esotericism  of  mind  and 
soul  is  generally  regarded  as  enshrouded  in  the  silence 
of  Mysteries.  "The  highest  truth  is  always  the  sim- 
plest," said  a  great  Teacher.  If  we  believe  in  unity 
of  existence  we  must  live  according  to  the  theory. 
This  "living  accordingly"  embraces  the  ideal  and 
practice  of  those  virtues  which  manifest  unity.    Vir- 


^Realization.  335 

tues  Lave  highest  standing  in  the  evolutionary  scale. 
Their  practice  tends  toward  the  refinement  of  the 
feelings.  It  tends  to  perfect  subjugation  of  lower  in- 
stinctive desires  and  to  the  development  of  highest 
qualities.  Tossed  hither  and  thither  by  the  waves 
of  desire  on  this  ocean  of  finite  existence,  how  can  we 
ever  realize  spiritual  unity  unless  we  make  the  mind 
self -centered  and  controlled !  Then  it  will  not  be 
seized  captive  at  every  turning  of  the  tide.  It  will 
have  greatest  strength,  the  strength  of  resistance.  By 
patience  everything  can  be  gained.  The  most  power- 
ful influences  may  be  easily  controlled  so  long  as  the 
inner  is  governed.  All  external  influences  which  at- 
tempt to  undermine  spiritual  self-possession  cannot 
affect  the  soul  once  it  establishes  discriminating  wis- 
dom in  the  relation  between  the  inner  man  and  his 
outer  surroundings.  Truth  and  power  are  relative 
to  the  practice  of  virtue  and  to  strength  of  character. 
Character  will  lift  the  soul  into  the  superior  percep- 
tion where  it  will  reap  the  fruitage  of  the  long,  up- 
ward toil,  when  it  will  behold  truth,  not  with  the  eye 
of  the  mind,  but  through  direct  consciousness.  No 
Self-knowledge  or  psychic  control  can  be  had  until 
character  is  firm.  It  is  unbecoming  to  believe  great 
truths  and  then  neglect  to  fulfill  them.  Such  a  con- 
dition cannot  be  called  faith.  If  one  is  acquainted 
with  the  mysteries  of  soul  and  lives  the  life  of  lower 
planes,  he  will  lose  the  truth.  Finally,  he  will  grow 
altogether  distant  from  his  spiritual  knowledge,  going 
from  bad  to  worse.  That  is  the  fate  destined  for  those 
who  betray  the  Spirit  of  truth.     "Better  that  they 


336  Realization. 

never  were  born,"  than  to  become  Judases  to  their 
spiritual  knowledge.  For  every  man  is  a  Judas  who 
believes  one  thing  and  acts  another. 

The  sweetest  reward  of  the  pursuit  of  spiritual 
things  is  the  peaceful  consciousness  of  their  reality. 
Sensitized  to  the  spiritual  orders,  the  aspirant  more 
and  more  consciously  relates  himself  to  them.  Knowl- 
edge must  develop  into  feeling.  That  is  the  goal  of 
natural  evolution.  Whosoever  has  developed  the  con- 
sciousness of  oneness  of  life  knows  nothing  of  strife, 
nor  of  ambitions  which  cause  harm  or  misery  to 
others.  His  soul  is  moved  to  assisting  others.  He  is 
a  constructor  of  ideals.  He  is  wary  never  to  destroy 
them,  for  their  destruction  often  means  the  death  of 
the  soul  that  cherished  them.  He  is  an  archangel  of 
mercy.  He  willingly  bears  the  burden  of  many  and, 
if  the  burden  crushes  him,  dies  calmly.  He  is  imbued 
with  the  idea  of  service.  Philosophy  means  little  to 
him  in  the  comparison  with  the  natural  flow  of  the 
heart  toward  the  noble  and  the  true.  The  greatest 
personages  whom  history  cites  wielded  tremendous 
power  through  their  perfect  love  for  others  and 
through  the  perfection  of  their  character.  Such  ex- 
alted beings  were  Jesus  the  Christ,  Buddha,  Confu- 
cius, Socrates.  Such  were  Saint  Bernard  and  Saint 
Francis,  founders  of  monastic  orders.  They  had  the 
power  to  distract  the  worldliness  of  millions  who  have 
followed  in  their  way,  the  power  to  call  them  into 
higher  realms  of  effort  and  expression.  They  proved 
to  them  the  littleness  of  the  lesser  things  of  life  by 
making  them  conscious  of  the  immeasurable  greatness 


Realization.  337 

of  Spirit.  Name  and  fame  are  trifles.  Most  of  those 
who  accomplish  great  things  are  praised  only  after 
they  have  passed  away.  Those  who  live  in  the  same 
age  are  themselves  in  the  perspective  and  therefore 
cannot  impartially  discriminate.  The  most  evanes- 
cent facts  in  the  universe  are  those  that  concern 
temporal  life.  The  tide  of  fortune  is  never  equal. 
To-day  men  are  transported  by  the  realization  of  some 
petty  desire.  To-morrow  the  very  pettiness  of  the 
desire  is  brought  to  their  minds  and  they  loathe  what 
only  a  short  time  since  they  dearly  wished  and  prayed 
for.  The  soul  is  already  too  much  entangled  within 
this  net  of  worldliness  to  entangle  itself  any  further. 
The  bonds  of  desire  that  fetter  its  higher  expression 
must  be  broken  before  the  darkness  with  which  it  is 
encumbered  can  be  pierced  by  spiritual  light. 

Spirituality  is  a  consciousness  which  is  permanent. 
It  is  a  reaching  out  which  is  abiding.  It  is  a  tireless 
aspiration  endowed  with  the  realization  of  the  ever- 
presence  of  the  Ideal.  No  spasmodic  effort  consti- 
tutes spirituality.  True  desire  for  spiritual  develop- 
ment, Self-knowledge  and  spiritual  control  is  realized 
through  persistence  and  intensity.  If  we  earnestly 
wish  for  something,  we  leave  no  effort  lost  that 
serves  in  its  realization.  Thus  should  it  be  if  men 
wish  to  acquire  spiritual  knowledge  and  moral  control 
over  their  nature. 

Belief  is  relative.  Knowledge  is  relative.  This 
universe  is  relative.  Infinite  is  realization.  Infinite 
is  Self.  Infinite  is  the  knowledge  of  Self,  the 
knowledge  that  is  identifiable  with  omniscience.  This 


338  Realization. 


wheel  of  birth  and  death  is  immeasurable  and  un- 
thinkable. Opportunity  seems  limited,  and  the  results 
of  effort  seem  only  short  steps  on  that  endless  path  on 
which  the  soul  travels.  Men  cannot  escape  the  neces- 
sity of  duty.  They  may  flatter  themselves  that  all  is 
well,  so  long  as  life  is  fair,  but  in  moments  of  sorrow, 
or  when  some  loved  one  passes  beyond,  it  is  then  that 
the  reality  of  temporal  life  seems  mythical  in  com- 
parison with  the  everlastingness  of  truth  and  soul. 
Spiritual  values  come  closer  only  as  material  values 
lose  their  hold.  That  is  why  men  of  high  spiritual 
aspiration  voluntarily  assume  poverty,  knowing  that 
true  devotion  to  the  Ideal  can  alone  come  when  the 
attention  of  the  mind  has  been  diverted  from  the  pal- 
triness of  worldly  calling.  The  truth  seems  distantly 
related  to  consciousness.  It  seems  that  we  cannot 
bring  ourselves  to  correspond  with  its  actual  reality. 
Death  swallows  all  but  character,  but,  in  spite  of  this 
knowledge,  men  give  their  undivided  attention  to  the 
things  of  sense.  This  lack  of  practical  truth  within 
their  lives  must  give  way.  If  they  cannot  of  personal 
volition  grow  apart  from  the  vanities  of  life,  they  will 
be  compelled  to  do  so.  Pleasure  resolves  itself  into 
pain.  From  excesses  of  animal  appetites  that  reac- 
tion develops  which  causes  bitter  repentance.  We  are 
aimlessly  drifting  on  an  endless  sea  of  change.  All 
is  in  a  state  of  flux.  All  growth  is  through  pain.  It 
is  the  separation  of  the  lower  and  the  integration  of 
the  higher.  We  may  expect  suffering  and  sorrow  to 
afflict  us  so  long  as  we  call  the  phenomenal  real.  Noth- 
ing can  harm  us  when  we  know  that  the  real  happi- 


Realization.  339 

ness  for  which  all  beings  are  yearning  is  not  to  be 
found  within  either  the  dominion  of  mind  or  form, 
that  it  is  the  essence  of  the  Atman,  the  spirit  of  the 
soul,  the  quintessence  of  Divinity.     We  constantly 
seek  happiness  in  the  pursuit  of  things  transient. 
When  we  understand  that  the  reality  of  the  phenom- 
enal is  the  Ideal,  the  Spirit,  then  nothing  is  common- 
place.   Pain  and  pleasure,  in  their  relative  considera- 
tion, no  longer  exist.     The  soul  experiences  bliss  at 
all  times,  for  it  is  devoted  to  the  Reality,  the  Omni- 
present Spirit  resident  in  all  things.     This  is  the 
central   truth   in   religion.     This    is    the   ideal   that 
affords  dignity  to  resignation.     We  are  resigned  to 
the  temporal  arrangement  and  model  our  lives  in  uni- 
son with  loftiest  spiritual  conceptions.     Perceiving 
the  unity  of  all  life  and  soul,  we  cannot  act  as  if  we 
perceived  manifoldness.      ''Whosoever   realizes   that 
Omnipresent  Existence  Whose  image  the  individual 
soul  is,  unto  him  comes  eternal  peace  and  perpetual 
bliss,  unto  none  else,  unto  none  else."    The  eyes  of  the 
sage  opened  to  the  vision  of  the  Master  beholds  none 
but  Him,  is  concerned  with  none  but  Him,  seeks  and 
finds  his  bliss  in  none  but  Him.    He  realizes  that  all 
the  attractions  that  previously  led  him  to  wander  in 
the  pursuit  of  the  ephemeral  are  nothingnesses,  that 
the  secret  of  all  attraction  is  Spirit,  the  very  soul  of 
the  Beautiful.    The  sage  cares  not  for  the  great  power 
which  his  spiritual  evolution  brings  him.    His  highest 
desire  and  ecstasy  is  in  beholding  That  Presence  vis- 
ualized in  the  form  and  expression  of  the  universe. 
He  is  satisfied  to  abide  in  the  Bliss  of  Everlasting 


340  Realization. 

Peace.  He  has  become  one  with  the  Heart  of  Life 
and  Truth.  He  has  arrived  at  the  ultimate  reality, 
knowledge  of  Self.  He  understands  that  all  the  births 
of  the  past  and  all  its  experiences  and  all  its  ideals 
were  but  parts  of  the  endless  effort  to  reach  the  Divine 
within.  Lifted  from  his  soul  are  the  veils  of  illusion, 
of  separateness  and  ignorance.  He  knows  the  "why" 
of  things  which  puzzles  all  who  are  bound  to  the 
Wheel,  for  he  is  one  with  the  Foundation  of  the  uni- 
verse, one  with  Him  Whose  Infinite  Presence  radiates 
the  Infinite  Shadow  we  see  about  us  in  myriad  ex- 
pressions. He  has  realized  the  essential  truth,  what 
Self  is,  has  been  and  ever  shall  be, — Spirit,  Endless, 
Deathless  and  Changeless. 

In  this  world  of  darkness  and  perishableness  stands 
the  Infinite  One.  If  we  identify  ourselves  with  igno- 
rance and  change,  how  can  we  ever  hope  to  behold  the 
Reality  behind  these  fleeting  shadows  of  transitional 
life!  If  there  is  Reality  we  must  be  the  essence  of 
that  Reality.  That  is  the  teaching.  Blinded  by 
densest  darkness  how  can  we  hope  to  see  the  light  un- 
less we  forsake  the  ways  of  desire,  and  from  the 
depths  of  the  soul  call  out  unto  Him  Who  is  the  Soul 
of  our  souls !  He  is  the  Reality  of  what  we  call  our 
existence.  It  is  He  Who  will  show  us  the  Way.  Llis 
light  shall  guide  us  amid  the  gloom.  He  shall  give 
us  the  divine  perception  of  infinite  unity.  By  His 
grace  alone  shall  we  receive  the  highest  knowledge. 
The  soul  must  feel  aspiration.  Aspiration  must  tingle 
in  every  drop  of  blood.  It  must  be  the  vitalizing  ele- 
ment of  the  mind.    We  must  be  mad  with  the  desire 


^Realization.  3il 

to  realize.  We  must  be  obsessed  with  the  sole  idea 
to  discover  the  Truth  of  Self.  The  highest  knowledge 
rises  from  the  heart  overcome  with  anguish.  The 
struggle  seems  vain  without  that  Light.  Hopeless  this 
endless  recurrence,  unless  we  seek  and  find  Him  Who 
is  the  Beginning  and  the  End.  Thy  Light  shall  save 
us,  otherwise  we  are  lost  in  this  ocean  of  change.  De- 
votedness  to  the  Ideal  will  draw  us  nearer  the  goal. 
And  when  we  reach  that  goal,  for  us  there  is  neither 
birth  nor  death,  nor  friend  nor  foe,  nor  bondage,  nor 
ignorance,  for  then  exists  That  One  Absolute  Exist- 
ence, Knowledge  and  Bliss  which  is  Immortal,  An- 
cient, Everlasting,  beyond  Being  and  Xon-Being, 
beyond  Light  and  Darkness,  beyond  both  Good  and 
Evil.  That  Adorable  Self  is  All  in  All.  Adoration 
to  the  Highest  Self,  Paramatman. 

FINIS. 


BOOKS  BY 
JAMES    ALLEN 


As  a  Man  Thinketh 
Out  from  the  Heart 
The  Heavenly  Life 
Entering  the  Kingdom 
The  Way  of  Peace 
The  Path  of  Prosperity 


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The  Discovery 
of  the  Soul 

By    FLOYD     B.    WILSON 


CONTENTS 

The  Discovery  of  the  Soul 

Trinity  of  Life 

Life  in  its  Fulness 

Man's  Magnet  of  Power — Optimism 

The  Dawn  of  Man's  Infancy 

What  is  Truth? 

Growth  Through  Knowledge  from  the 

Psychic  World 
Man — A  Soul  in  Evolution 
God 
The  New  Psychology  and  God 

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The    Triumph   of   Truth 

By  HENRY  FRANK 

' '  The  eighteen  chapters  of  this  work  discuss 
the  old  but  ever  new  problem  of  the  reglious  life, 
especially  on  its  thought  side.  The  doctrines 
are  critically  examined.  The  antagonism  be- 
tween theology  and  religion  is  elaborately  em- 
phasized. The  praises  of  modern  science  are 
loudly  sung.  At  the  close  there  is  a  jubilant  plea 
for  the  marriage  of  reason  and  religion.  It  is  evi- 
dent that  Mr.  Frank  is  a  wide  reader  and  an 
earnest  student.  He  has  scattered  through  these 
pages  many  striking  statements,  and  there  are 
many  who  will  find  his  book  very  helpful." 

Unity,  Chicago,  III. 

"Mr.  Frank  is  evidently  a  profoundly  sincere 
and  earnest  man.  His  experience  is  that  through 
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edy of  our  times.  He  writes  with  the  intensity 
of  one  who  has  just  thrown  off  an  incubus.  His 
literary  style  is  that  of  the  short,  oracular  para- 
graph, bursting  with  adjectives.  Others  fighting 
their  way  into  freedom  may  find  here  many  use- 
ful suggestions.  But  they  will  also  find  some 
astounding  statements  regarding  church  history 
and  other  matters." — The  Republican,  Springfield, 
JiCass. 

"In  this  able  work  Mr.  Frank  has  given  a 
bold  and  radical  treatise,  which  is  at  once  broad 
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works,  reverent  and  constructive  in  spirit  and 
character.  It  is  a  work  that  has  been  needed. 
Mr.  Frank  has  given  us  a  work  for  thoughtful 
men  and  women  who  find  little  comfort  in  the 
old  theology,  and  has  treated  in  eighteen  chapters 
his  themes  in  a  masterly  manner,  evincing  wide 
reading  and  deep  research." — 'Che  Jlrena. 

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TheMasteryofMind 

By  HENRY  FRANK 


' '  Is  the  work  of  an  interpreter  who  has  studied 
the  authorities  carefully,  and  has  written  a  book 
for  ordinary  folk  in  which  is  the  substance  of  a 
large  subject."—  Leader,  Boston. 

Jft  Jt  Jk 

"A  practical  presentation  of  the  entire  field  of 
psychology  and  thoroughly  up  to  date/' — Call, 
San  Francisco. 

Jk  J.  J, 

"It  teaches  the  inestimable  possibilities  for 
health,  wisdom  and  happiness  within  reach  of 
every  man  and  woman  who  will  learn  to  control 
the  mechanism  of  the  human  mind." — Times- 
Union,  Albany,  N.    Y. 


12mo.  cloth,   250  pages,  $1.00 

R.  F.  FENNO  &  COMPANY 
18  EAST  17th  STREET,  NEW  YORK 


The  Triumph  of  Truth 

By  HENRY  FRANK 


All  the  Doctrines  of  Christian  Theology  are  traced 
in  this  'work  to  their  natural  and  mythological 
Ecourcest  and  clothed  with  a  new  interpretation  in 
the  light  of  Modern  Thought. 

"  'The  Triumph  of  Truth*  is  an  interesting 
work  as  showing  the  crisis  the  author  himself 
came  through,  and  as  showing  how  many  ques- 
tions have  to  be  dealt  with  by  one  who  makes  up 
his  mind  to  renounce  authority,  and,  while  re- 
maining true  to  the  impulses  of  religion,  to  follow 
the  light  of  reason.  The  religion  to  which  he 
shows  the  way  is  worship  on  the  principles  of 
Walt  Whitman  of  a  God  who  embraces  in  him- 
self all  differences  and  all  opposites,  and  whom 
man  discovers  as  he  discovers  himself." — The 
Athenaeum,  London,  Eng. 

' '  The  criticism  in  this  work  is  fertile  and  ex- 
treme. It  is  the  fruit  of  much  thoughtfulness 
and  patient  labor.  It  gives  a  great  variety  of 
criticisms  against  traditional  beliefs.  It  is  a 
book  that  expresses  a  very  earnest  phase  of  in- 
dividual life" — The  Dial,  Chicago,  III. 

' '  This  book  will  receive  a  wide  welcome  and 
will  be  greatly  enjoyed.  It  will  be  indispensable 
to  the  student  of  theology  and  should  be  in  every 
public  library.  It  is  an  epoch-marking  if  not  an 
epoch-making  work.  It  voices  a  sentiment  long 
felt  by  earnest  souls,  but  never  before  so  fully 
and  vigorously." — The  Transcript,  Boston, 
Mass. 


12mo.  cloth,  gilt  top,  400  pages  $1.50 

R.  F.  FENNO  &  COMPANY 

18  EAST  17th  STREET,  NEW  YORK 


The  Mastery  of  Mind 

By    HENRY    FRANK 

The  Record  Herald  (Chicago)  :  "Dr.  Henry  Frank  is  a 
charming  pilot  through  the  mazes  of  the  so  called  'New 
Thought'  and  the  mysteries  of  the  New  Psychology.  His 
'Mastery  of  Mind'  is  a  kind  of  hand  book  of  that  misty 
mid-region  where  science  melts  into  religion  It  discusses 
many  subjects  in  a  captivating  manner  and  with  many  a 
happy  epigram." 

The  Nashville  American  :  "An  ethereal  idealism  blows 
through  the  pages  of  this  volume,  'The  Mastery  of  Mind.' 
all  the  more  delightful  for  that  it  is  shown  to  be  immedi- 
ately practical  and  usable." 

The  Universalist  Leader :  "One  of  its  merits  is  that  the 
author  uses  the  ordinary  words  of  plain  human  speech  all 
the  way  through.    It  is  the  work  of  the  interpreter  who  has 

studied  all  the  authorities  carefully There  are 

single  chapters  in  the  work  which  arc  worth  the  price  of  it 
to  those  who  understand.  Mr.  Frank  writes  his  gospel  of 
mind  mastery  optimistically.  It  is  a  good  gospel.  His 
book  is  a  good  introduction  to  the  more  elaborate  work* 
of  the  specialists." 

The  Brooklyn  Eagle  :  "  In  his  latest  work.  'The  Mastery 
of  Mind.'  Henry  Frank  ....  shows  the  close  relation 
of  the  mind  to  the  physical  body,  and  gives  practical  illus- 
trations as  to  how  the  newly  discovered  laws  of  psychic 
force,  working  often  sub-consciously, can  be  an  aid  to  man's 
moral  and  physical  uplift." 

The  Chicago  Daily  Tribune  :  "Mr.  Frank  is  a  graceful 
writer,  with  a  faculty  of  culling  facts  of  scientific  informa- 
tion and  presenting  them  in  a  way  that  appeals  to  the 
popular  fancy.  In  addition  to  this  he  deals  with  just  enough 
of  occult  and  the  as  yet  unexplained  psychic  phenomena, 
to  give  his  words  a  charm  for  the  devotees  of  the  New 
Thought." 

TJie  Arkansas  Democrat :  "The  general  reader  as  well 
as  the  student  will  find  in  this  volume  of  Dr.  Frank's  an 
exposition  of  a  new  psychology  that  will  at  once  entertain 
and  instruct.  The  author  is  a  noted  lecturer  on  ethical 
subjects  and  speaks  therefore  with  the  authority  of  one 
who  has  studied  the  subject  thoroughly  and  analytically. 
.  .  .  .  It  is  written  with  literary  finesse  that  will  appeal 
to  all,  and  the  most  abstruse  themes  ....  are  made 
a  matter  of  compelling  interest." 

Transcript  (Boston)  :  "Mr  Frank  is  at  his  best  in  this 
new  volume,  which  is  redolent  of  advanced  science  and  the 
New  Psychology,  beautiful  in  style  and  uplifting  in  moral 

sentiment In  this  age  of  mental  quackery  it  is 

refreshing  to  find  subjects  of  tbic  character  treated  so 
rationally." 

The  Washington  (D.  C.)  Times:  "A  masterly  and  prac- 
tical outline  of  the  entire  field  of  psychology." 

12mo.  cloth,  250  pages,  $1.00 

R.    F.    FENNO    &    COMPANY 

18  EAST  17th  STREET.      -      -     NEW  YORK 


The  Law  of  the 
Rhythmic  Breath 

By    E.    A.    FLETCHER 


THIS  book  explains  for  the  first 
time  in  Western  literature,  in  a 
convincingly  clear  and  simple  form 
and  with  convincing  proofs,  the  basic 
truths  of  the  Rhythmic  Breath  as 
taught  in  ancient  Hindu  philosophy 
and  developed  by  the  author. 

It  embodies  the  most  complete  Sci- 
ence and  Philosophy  of  Life  ever  pre- 
sented to  the  Western  World. 

Other  books— legion  in  number — 
claim  to  disclose  Eastern  mysteries : 
This  book  does!  It  carries  you  by 
clearly  defined  paths  to  the  gateway  of 
bodily  health  and  spiritual  power.  It 
depends  upon  the  individual  whether 
he  pass  through.  The  knowledge  is 
here  ;  its  application  brings  illuminac 
ing  results. 

These  truths  involve  a  knowledge  of 
the  Law  of  Vibrations  or  the  basic  law 
of  the  universe. 


The    Law    of   the 
Rhythmic  Breath 

By  E.  A.  FLETCHER 

"Takes  an  important  place  among  the  books 
of  this  fall." — Globe,  Boston. 

' '  Not  only  does  it  deal  with  a  most  fascinat- 
ing subject,  in  a  masterful  manner,  but  it  gives 
explicit  directions  for  attaining  the  ideal  state  of 
balance  and  power. ' '  —  The  Oracle,  Bridgton, 
Me. 

"It  is  possible  for  this  book  to  change  the 
course  of  the  reader' s  life.  The  ancient  Hindus 
were  perfectly  familiar  with  its  teachings,  but 
they  have  not  heretofore  been  popularly  ex- 
plained in  English.  Hindu  physiology  teaches 
that  alternate  breathing,  that  is,  breathing 
through  each  nostril  in  turn,  creates  vitality  and 
health,  prolongs  life,  and  puts  one  into  harmony 
with  the  laws  of  the  universe.  The  explanation 
is  simple.  With  every  inhalation  through  the 
right  nostril,  a  positive,  or  solar,  electrical  cur- 
rant flows  down  the  right  side  of  the  spine;  with 
every  inhalation  through  the  left  nostril,  a  neg- 
ative, or  lunar  current,  flows  down  the  left  side. 
On  the  balance  of  these  currents  depends  one's 
well-being.  The  elements  of  ether,  air,  fire, 
water  and  earth,  and  their  vibratory  action,  sep- 
arately and  collectively,  upon  the  physical  body, 
are  described.  The  auric  envelope  with  which 
each  person  is  enclosed,  and  which  reflects  every 
thought,  impulse  and  emotion,  in  color,  is  the 
subject  of  three  fascinating  chapters 

To  the  thoughtful  reader  and  lover  of  the  occult, 
the  book  furnishes  outlines  for  unlimited  inves- 
tigation and  study.  It  is  comprehensively  writ- 
ten, and  profoundly  impressive.  It  contains  a 
glossary  of  Sanscrittersm,  and  an  extensive  biblio- 
graphy."— Times-Union,  Albany,  N.   Y. 

J2mo.  cloth,  372  pages,  $1.00 
By  mail,  $1.10 


A  Drama  in  Sunshine 

By  HORACE  ANNESLEY  VACHEIX 

Author  of  "Brothers,"  "Her Son,"  Etc.,  Etc. 

SOUTHERN  California— the  land  of  flowers  and 
sunshine — supply s  the  stage  upon  which  this  won- 
derful drama  unfolds  itself.  It  is  the  modern  story 
of  the  effect  of  sudden  wealth  upon  two  comparatively 
simple  lives  and  characters,  yet  with  a  wealth  of  new 
developments  and  details  which  is  certain  to  make  a  per- 
sonal appeal  to  every  reader. 

When  his  fortune  is  made,  the  man  discovers  that  the 
simple,  whole-hearted  little  woman,  who  has  been  his 
great  support  and  incentive  in  the  struggle,  is  no  longer 
his  ideal;  and  she  discovers  that  the  successful  man, 
proud  in  the  accomplishment  of  his  desires,  no  longer  at- 
tracts her  as  when,  striving  and  struggling  against  big 
disadvantages  he  found  in  her  sympathy  and  quiet  sim- 
plicity the  necessary  encouragement  which  gave  him  his 
final  success. 

He  turns  his  affection  upon  a  brilliant,  vivacious, 
woman  of  the  world — his  wife's  cousin;  while,  with  hidden 
strain  of  Castilian  blood  changing  her  love  to  hate,  the  wife 
finds  an  outlet  for  her  slighted  affection  in  the  intimacy 
of  an  Italian  Prince,  suave,  polished   and  sympathetic. 

12mo,  Cloth  Price,  net,  $1.00 

R.  F.  FENNO  &  COMPANY,  NEW  YORK 


I^otoer  of  innocence 

By  ARTHUR  J.  WESTERMAYR 

In  Francesca  we  have  a  character  unusual  in  modern 
fiction.  She  is  a  Venetian  by  birth  ;  raised  in  the  slums  of 
the  back  streets  of  Venice,  she  i^  taken  from  an  artist's 
studio,  where  she  has  posed  as  a  child  model,  by  a  student 
of  heredity,  for  the  purpose  of  experiment,  by  whom  she  is 
placed  in  refined  and  elevating  environment.  Though  of 
evil  parentage  she  grows  to  womanhood  gracefully,  and  her 
beauty  of  form  and  feature  is  not  less  remarkable  and  striking 
than  that  of  her  moral  character.  An  evil  deed,  committed 
without  her  fault,  tears  her  away  from  her  pleasant  sur- 
roundings, and  when  next  we  meet  her  she  is  in  Munich, 
the  great  art  center  of  Europe,  where  she  becomes  acquainted 
with  William  Blake,  an  American  artist,  for  whose  painting 
"Power  of  Innocence"  she  poses,  thereby  bringing  him 
fame  and  fortune.  Their  love  is  overshadowed  by  Fran- 
cesca's  wrong,  and  after  passing  through  a  terrible  ordeal, 
she  rises  above  selfishness  and  makes  the  supreme  sacrifice. 
Her  life  and  character  are  a  final  refutation  of  crime  by 
heredity. 

The  character  of  Helen,  the  childhood  playmate  of  the 
artist,  is  developed  unconventionally  and  along  untried  lines, 
and  affords  a  psychological  undercurrent  whose  worth  as  a 
contribution  to  the  whole  theme  cannot  be  overestimated. 
To  prove  that  one  may  love  and  yet  not  know  it  until  a 
crucial  event  brings  consciousness  of  its  existence,  is  the 
purpose  of  this  uncommon  character. 

In  lighter  vein,  yet  with  touches  of  pathos  which  win  our 
sympathies  at  once,  is  drawn  Raymond  Sylvester,  the  self- 
constituted  cynic,  who  thinks  himself  cold-blooded  and  hard- 
hearted, but  who  is  in  fact  a  warm-hearted,  generous  friend 
and  typical  Englishman. 

l2mo,  cloth.     Illustrated.     $1.50 


R.  F.  FENNO  &  COMPANY 

18  EAST  17th  STREET  NEW  YORK 


"The  Kingdom  of  Love" 

By  HENRY  FRANK 

From  the  Leading  Popular  Economic  Monthly. 

"  This  work  deals  with  Love  from  the  view-point  of  the  critical  scien- 
tist, an  introspective  philosopher  and  an  imaginative  poet,  and  is,  we 
think,  the  broadest  and  most  comprehensive  study  of  the  master  dynamic 
force  of  creation  that  has  been  written.  *  *  *  Here  is  a  full-orbed 
view  of  the  greatest  thing  in  the  world."—  The  Arena,  B.  O.  Flower, 
Editor,  Boston. 

From  the  Leading  Baptist  Weekly  of  the  West. 

"The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  show  that  Love  is  a  cosmic  prin- 
ciple, creative,  nutritive,  and  supportive  throughout  the  universe.  It 
creates,  constructs  and  supports  life  everywhere.  It  is  variegated  in 
form  and  experience,  but  it  is  the  same  principle  in  matter,  chemistry, 
vegetation— in  social,  ethical  and  religious  life.  The  book  is  written  in 
•n  exceedingly  sententious  style.  It  is  prose  in  form  but  poetic  in  char- 
acter. Its  figures  of  speech  are  so  abounding  and  luxuriant,  that,  like 
leaves,  they  conceal  the  fruit.  The  rhetoric  is  turgid,  fairly  foaming 
with  ornamental  aphorisms  and  pungent  epigrams."—  The  Standard, 
Chicago,  III. 

From  the  Leading  Unitarian  Weekly  of  the  West. 

"  This  is  a  book  of  exceptional  scope,  treating  of  universal  advance- 
ment, and,  in  its  broadest  sense,  of  the  love  principle,  in  such  a  way  as 
to  harmonize,  admirably,  modern  evolutionary  and  materialistic  tenden- 
cies, with  the  underlying  spirit  of  orthodoxy.  It  emphasizes  first  that 
Love  and  God  are  the  same  all-pervading,  beautifying,  cosmic  principle, 
including  the  social,  mutual  affinity  and  mother  principles,  as  well  as 
the  healing  grace ;  and  next,  that  contemplation  of  life's  ideals,  along 
these  lines,  presents  practical  encouragement  to  the  pessimistic  and 
needy  toward  social  progress  and  individual  development;  and  suggests 
to  the  more  fortunate  the  cultivation  of  deeper  sympathy.  In  short,  it 
holds  that  God  and  Man  when  merged  in  the  exercise  of  Love's  beatific 
powers  are  one,  that  earth's  crowning  glory  is  the  attainment  of  high 
ideals  and  unselfish  ends,  and  thai  the '  Resurrection  *  is  but  to  rise  from 
the  delusion  of  the  senses  and  the  death-dream  to  the  light  of  the  spirit 
and  the  brighter  progression  of  eternal  life."— Unity,  Chicago.  III. 


12mo,  cloth,  $1.00 

R.  F.  FENNO  &  CO.,    -    New  York 


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